President Lee praises Kang Hoon-sik for securing 273 million barrels of crude oil, urges swift follow-up procedures

[The Financial News] President Lee Jae Myung praised Chief Presidential Secretary Kang Hoon-sik, who visited four countries in the Middle East and Central Asia as a special envoy for strategic economic cooperation and managed to secure an additional 273 million barrels of crude oil and 2.1 million tons of naphtha, a key feedstock for the petrochemical industry. President Lee stressed that this "will greatly help stabilize domestic supply and minimize damage to our economy and industries."
Presiding over a senior secretaries' meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on the 16th, President Lee said, "The government must move swiftly on follow-up consultations and related procedures so that the volumes we have secured this time can be brought into the country as quickly as possible."
President Lee noted, "As the war in the Middle East enters its seventh week, supply chain risks could rapidly spread across the manufacturing sector. We need to tighten our emergency response system once again and make every effort to secure additional crude oil and essential raw materials." He went on, "We have secured 273 million barrels of crude oil and 2.1 million tons of naphtha from four countries in the Middle East and Central Asia as alternative supply sources. Chief Secretary Kang, you worked very hard. You probably barely slept, but you achieved great results, and I commend you for that."

cjk@fnnews.com Choi Jong-geun and Sung Seok-woo Reporter