South Korea Hikes Its Imports Of Algerian Crude Oil By 77%

South Korea increased its imports of Algerian crude oil by 77% during the first nine months of 2026, averaging 53,000 barrels per day, compared to 30,000 barrels per day during the same period in 2025, rising to second place among the largest importers of Algerian oil, after being in fifth place last year.

According to data from the Energy Research Unit, Spain topped the list of the largest importers of seaborne Algerian crude oil with an average of 64,000 barrels per day, followed by South Korea with 53,000, then France with 50,000, the United Kingdom with 43,000, and Italy with 37,000 barrels per day.

The five countries accounted for about 67% of Algeria’s total seaborne crude oil exports during the period from January to September 2026.

In contrast, Algeria’s average crude oil exports declined by 11.5% to 370,000 barrels per day during the first nine months of 2026, compared to 418,000 barrels per day in the same period of 2025, amid a decrease in imports by several European countries and oil prices rising to levels exceeding 100 dollars per barrel.

The four European countries on the list of the top five importers of Algerian oil recorded a decrease in their imports during the same period, and Spain was the most declining, as its average imports fell from 83,000 barrels per day during the first nine months of 2025 to 64,000 in the same period of 2026.

France’s imports of Algerian crude oil also fell from 72,000 barrels per day to 50,000, a decrease of 30%.

The United Kingdom’s imports decreased by 8.5% to 43,000 barrels per day, compared to 47,000 during the same period last year, while Italy recorded the smallest decline among the four European countries, by less than 3% to 37,000 barrels per day.

The jump in South Korea’s imports of Algerian oil came at a time when Seoul is seeking to diversify its oil supply sources away from the Gulf region, against the backdrop of the Strait of Hormuz crisis, while boosting imports from the Americas, especially the United States, along with Algeria.

South Korea’s refining capacity is about 3.52 million barrels per day, while some refineries have the flexibility to process light oil coming from the United States and Algeria, while the bulk of the refineries depend on medium and heavy oil coming from the Middle East.

Algeria’s average crude oil exports reached 370,000 barrels per day during the first nine months of 2026, compared to 409,000 barrels per day in the same period of 2024 and 418,000 in 2025.

On a monthly basis, Algerian crude oil exports fell to 301,000 barrels per day in September, while February recorded the highest level during the first nine months of the year at 510,000 barrels per day.

The decline in exports comes despite the increase in Algeria’s crude production to nearly one million barrels per day during the past months, coinciding with the phasing out of voluntary production cuts in cooperation with a number of countries in the OPEC+ alliance.