00:00South Korea has secured more than 270 million barrels of crude oil from the Middle East and Kazakhstan through the
00:08end of the year, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.
00:10The deal was announced by Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hong-sik following a diplomatic tour to key energy suppliers
00:17including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Kazakhstan.
00:23Seoul says the deal includes hundreds of millions of barrels of crude along with more than 2 million tons of
00:30naphtha.
00:30Saudi Arabia will supply the bulk of the oil with additional shipments coming from Kazakhstan and Oman.
00:38Kang said the secured crude supplies could power the economy for more than three months with naphtha stocks covering about
00:44a month of imports.
00:45The move is aimed at reducing South Korea's reliance on the Strait of Hormuz, which accounted for more than half
00:52of its energy imports last year.
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