South Korea announced a plan to send its oil ships to the Saudi port of Yanbu overlooking the Red Sea. This strategic step aims to avoid passage through the Strait of Hormuz in light of the increasing geopolitical tensions and security concerns prevailing in the Arabian Gulf region.
Through this step, Seoul seeks to benefit from the “East-West” crude oil pipeline that connects the Kingdom’s eastern oil fields to the port of Yanbu in the west, allowing Saudi oil to be loaded away from maritime choke points in the Strait of Hormuz.
These measures fall within the framework of an emergency plan drawn up by the South Korean government with the aim of ensuring stable energy supplies, securing oil stocks, and avoiding any potential disruptions to global shipping traffic, which may lead to a sharp rise in shipping and insurance costs or an interruption of vital supplies to Korean refineries.
