South Korea's government is in talks with the country's refiners about measures to manage the fallout from the Iran conflict, including tapping the country's strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) and possibly imposing a ban on oil product exports, sources told Argus today.
Refinery officials met with the government yesterday to discuss a possible SPR release in order to safeguard domestic supplies, company officials said.
Any decision allowing refiners to borrow from the SPR would most likely be linked to restrictions on refined product exports, they added.
The timeline of any measures is unclear, although restrictions on exports and other energy saving measures are likely to be imposed ahead of an SPR release, one oil company official said.
The government is seeking feedback from refiners on the potential refining losses that could arise if export restrictions are imposed, the sources added.
Refiners in South Korea, one of Asia-Pacific's largest exporters, are reluctant to offer oil product cargoes for spot loading in April because of concerns over the reliability of incoming crude shipments, market participants said.
Refiners have not yet decided on whether to cut runs, unlike others in the region, as they continue to monitor developments in the Middle East. Most had already planned for lower run rates during March-April because of scheduled maintenance work.
South Korea's clean product exports averaged around 1.4mn b/d in 2025, according to data from Kpler.
State-owned oil firm KNOC operates nine stockpiling bases under the government's strategic reserve programme with capacity of 146mn bl of oil. It held around 100mn bl, excluding international joint stockpiling reserves, as of November 2025, according to company data.
China, another major oil product exporter in Asia-Pacific, has already moved to tighten domestic supply controls. Authorities there have urged refiners and oil companies to suspend exports of clean petroleum products to ensure adequate domestic availability, according to market sources
