Overview
- The Industry Ministry opened the audit on March 20 to determine whether Korea National Oil Corp. violated rules or procedures.
- About 900,000 barrels stored under the international joint stockpiling program were sold overseas and cannot be recovered, according to a ministry official.
- KNOC held priority purchase rights for foreign-owned crude stored in its leased Ulsan tanks but did not exercise them before the sale.
- KNOC says it deemed action unnecessary because the foreign owner had a 2 million‑barrel supply contract with a South Korean refiner and says rights are secured to the remaining 1.1 million barrels.
- The crude was reportedly owned by a Middle Eastern company and resold to a buyer in Southeast Asia during a period of Middle East conflict and an effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.