South Korea's oil product exports drop for the first time in 6 years

South Korean oil product exports dropped for the first time in six years in 2009 due to weak demand amid the global economic slowdown, state-run Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) said. The country exported 331.3 million barrels of petroleum products last year, down 0.7% from 2008, KNOC said in a report. It was the first drop in the country’s oil exports since 2003. South Korea earned US$22.6 billion from oil product exports last year, down 57.7% from the previous year due to lower prices. (March 18, 2010)