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North Korea can store crude oil for up to a year if supplies to the country are completely stopped. This, in turn, could shed light on a number of issues related to sanctioned status.
A recent report by Nautilus, a group of US security experts, says that North Korea has enough storage capacity to store around 11 million barrels of oil. This amount could last up to a year if the country is completely insulated from foreign oil shipments, writes Oilprice.
At Nautilus, based on intelligence data and satellite image analysis, the country is believed to have made significant efforts to develop its reservoirs and increase capacity. Analysts say capacity has already expanded to the point where Pyongyang can conveniently handle the storage of domestically produced petroleum products as well as imported quantities in recent years.
All of this is significant because North Korea, which is subject to international sanctions, can import up to 500,000 barrels of oil a year from abroad.
If, on the contrary, its capabilities allow it, it means that it will be able to satisfy the country’s oil needs for a long time even when supplies are stopped.
Location of the oil storage facility in the port city of Chongqing:
The official amount is certainly not enough for the country. In July, dozens of UN countries, including the US and Japan, indicated that North Korea was likely violating oil restrictions and was now illegally sourcing more than the allowed amount of raw material. The most common solution is to transfer the shipment from one ship to another, thus taking it to the country.
North Korea is estimated to have acquired 1.6 million barrels of petroleum products between January and May this year, carrying out 56 ship-to-ship transshipments at sea.
That is why the United Nations is urging the World Organization to enforce restrictions on oil imports more effectively and to punish Pyongyang for illegal supplies. However, China and Russia are disputing the prospect of punishment, and without these two powers, the problem is unlikely to end with a decision to that effect.
Currently, all UN member states that maintain contact with the Lator state must report oil supplies to a sanctioned country.
It is not possible to determine exactly how much oil and petroleum products North Korea has accumulated in its reserves so far. Nautilus estimates that stocks could be sufficient for at least a few months, which could mean that even if oil supplies were to stop entirely and illegal transshipments were prevented, there would still be enough oil available in the country for some time.
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