South Korea rattled by Middle East strikes threatening energy lifelines

Officials in South Korea have expressed growing alarm over disruptions to critical energy and petrochemical supplies following strikes on key infrastructure across the Middle East, Al Jazeera reports.

It was no surprise how alarmed officials were here when Israel struck the South Pars gas field in Iran, and that alarm just continued to grow with the retaliatory strikes on Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, hitting so much energy infrastructure that this country is so reliant on – not just for energy but for petrochemicals, for naphtha, for helium that goes into semiconductors. Really, any product that this country exports.

Authorities have convened a series of emergency meetings, which have now become a near-daily occurrence as concerns mount over supply stability.

"We’ve just seen emergency meeting after meeting here; they’ve really become a daily event. Out of the latest meeting, government officials reiterated the need to broaden the energy importers, talking about the cap on the price of oil coming out of refineries here."

Officials also highlighted the unprecedented nature of recent interventions in domestic markets.

That’s the first time there has been a price cap at the refineries since the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 … The market here is really rattled.

The government is considering additional contingency measures, including potential fuel rationing for vehicles. At the same time, officials pointed to limited relief from alternative supply routes.

The government is talking about additional measures, including rationing for cars, but the UAE has provided something of a lifeline with a number of shipments that have bypassed the Strait of Hormuz, one having reached [South Korea] and another on the way.

In total, approximately 24 million barrels of oil, along with a shipment of naphtha—essential for the production of plastics—are currently en route. However, officials cautioned that these supplies remain limited relative to the country’s needs.

By Vafa Guliyeva