Wednesday, Mar 14, 2012
(This story was originally published Tuesday.)
SEOUL (Dow Jones)--South Korean Deputy Minister Cho Seok plans to meet with Kuwaiti Oil Minister Hani Hussein this week to ask for Kuwait's support in securing a stable energy supply in case of emergency, South Korea's Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Tuesday.
The meeting comes as South Korea seeks alternative crude-oil supplies and faces U.S. pressure to cut crude imports from Iran.
South Korea, which depends on energy imports, last year imported around 9.4% of its crude oil from Iran, 12.7% from Kuwait and 9.7% from Iraq.
Cho will be in Kuwait for the International Energy Forum. He is also scheduled to meet with Qatari Energy Minister Mohammed Bin Saleh Al Sada to discuss ways their countries can cooperate to help South Korea secure a stable supply of oil and gas, the ministry said in a statement.
Following his visit to Kuwait, Cho will visit Iraq to discuss cooperation in energy and economic issues.
Officials from Korea National Oil Corp., Korea Gas Corp. (036460.SE) and Hyundai Oilbank will also attend the International Energy Forum, the ministry said.
A separate delegation of officials from KNOC, Korea Gas and private companies including Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. (009540.SE) and SK Innovation Co. (096770.SE) will visit Iraq from March 13-17, the ministry said.
-By Min-Jeong Lee, Dow Jones Newswires; 822-3700-1908; min-jeong.lee@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
14-03-12 0421GMT
