South Korea's exports of petroleum products, such as gasoline and diesel, surged 95.7 percent in July from a year earlier, fueled by rising demand from Asia and the European Union, the government said Tuesday.

   The country shipped over US$5.18 billion worth of petroleum products last month, up from about $2.66 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.

   In volume terms, the country exported 42.2 million barrels worth of refined petroleum products, which represents a gain of 15.5 percent from June and a gain of 31.0 percent from the year before.

   "The increase in exports of petroleum products is mainly due to hikes in demand from other Asian countries and the European Union," it said.

   Shipments to Asia have been aided by production disruptions at oil refineries in Japan that were hit hard by the massive earthquake in March, while the free trade agreement (FTA) with Europe also boosted sales.

   The FTA between South Korea and Europe went into effect in July and cut import duties, causing exports to skyrocket 251.6 percent from the previous month to over 3.9 million barrels.

   With the sharp rise in exports, petroleum products became the single largest export item for the country last month, outpacing ships and automobiles, the ministry said.

   Total exports were equal to 60 percent of the $8.7 billion the country spent to purchase crude oil from abroad, with 54 percent of the 78.3 million barrels imported last month being refined so they can be shipped abroad again, it added.

   The report, meanwhile, showed that local consumption of petroleum products moved up 6.3 percent on-year to around 66 million barrels, with industrial use accounting for 58.1 percent of the total, followed by transportation and home use.

   Transportation accounted for 35.9 percent of all consumption, with home and commercial use making up 3.7 percent, the report said.

Source: Yonhap News (August 30, 2011)