Demand for oil products hits two-year low in Korea

Seoul: South Korea's oil products demand fell to its lowest in nearly two years in June, state-run Korea National Oil Corp (Knoc) said on Tuesday, due to weak consumer sentiment dented by high energy costs.

Domestic oil products demand fell 6.5 per cent from the prior year to 57.46 million barrels (1.92 million barrels per day) in June, down 10.3 per cent from May and near the low of 57 million barrels (1.9 million bpd) recorded in July 2006.

But exports of oil products rose 18.5 per cent to 27.24 million barrels (908,000 bpd) last month from a year ago, supported by a 50 per cent jump in diesel exports to 9.75 million barrels, Knoc said in its monthly oil data.

"Domestic demand fell significantly for transportation fuel, especially diesel, due to high prices," said Uhm Kwang-yong, analyst at Knoc's domestic products division.