*South Korea is the first major crude importer to report January stats. 2020 saw Korea ‘overtake’ Japan to become the global number four crude importer. But overtake is a relative term – Korean imports fell 9% to 2.66mn b/d for 2020, but Japan’s fell further (MEES, 29 January).

*January saw another lackluster performance with imports of just 2.46mn b/d, the second lowest figure in the last six years (the lowest was last November’s 2.29mn b/d – see chart 1). (CONTINUED - 200 WORDS)