wisconsin_cur wrote:OilFinder2 wrote: Sorry to say, but oil demand in Korea is a bit more elastic than you think.
or not?
Crude inventories in S. Korea,SEOUL, June 20 (Reuters) - South Korea's commercial crude inventory fell nearly 37 percent by end-May from a year ago as high oil prices continued to discourage refiners from making new purchases, state-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) said Friday.
37%... ouch
South Korean oil demand has been flat for several years. It would be nice to see actual recent figures, but I'd be willing to bet that much of the decline in crude imports represents decreased demand.
A decrease in storage does not necessarily mean a lack of supply, it could mean they don't want to have $140 oil sitting around idle in storage. It's getting too expensive to keep in storage, so they take a "lean inventory" approach.
Same goes with US storage, I might add.