As tensions escalate in the Middle East, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) has initiated inspections into the supply and demand of crude oil, gas, and naphtha, alongside emergency response postures.

MOTIE announced that it held an "Emergency Real Economy Inspection Meeting on the Middle East Conflict" presided over by Minister Kim Jung-kwan this afternoon (August 2).

Minister Kim, who is accompanying President Lee Jae-myung on an overseas tour, held the meeting via video conference from Frankfurt, Germany, to check the import status, inventory levels, and securing of alternative volumes for each resource.

The meeting also intensively reviewed supply and demand countermeasures by product, considering the worst-case scenario in which navigation through both the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is disrupted simultaneously.

For domestic crude oil imports, volumes exceeding the previous year's average have been secured for August and September, and October import volumes are also being secured sequentially.

Accordingly, the government views the impact on short-term supply and demand as limited, but notes that if uncertainties regarding navigation in the Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb straits are prolonged, preparations will be necessary to secure volumes beyond October.

MOTIE decided to check crude oil import plans and tanker navigation conditions, and to monitor incoming shipments to ensure that scheduled import volumes arrive domestically as planned.

Minister Kim also instructed officials to closely consult with the refining industry on the feasibility of utilizing available detour routes, such as the Suez Canal and Egypt's Sumed pipeline, and to make thorough preparations—including the immediate resumption of the strategic oil reserve swap program if necessary.

Regarding gas, more than 80 percent of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is already imported from non-Middle Eastern regions. However, to prepare for contingencies, the ministry decided to continuously monitor import situations through alternative supply lines in Southeast Asia, Australia, and North America, while stably managing domestic inventories.

For naphtha, continued efforts are required to stably secure volumes from September onward due to factors such as rising prices.

MOTIE decided to maintain the supply stabilization measures implemented so far for naphtha and to devise plans to additionally secure volumes for September and beyond.

The ministry assessed that petrochemical product inventories are currently maintaining a stable level.

However, to prepare for potential impacts on petrochemical production and supply should naphtha import conditions and maritime transportation uncertainties be prolonged, it was decided to strengthen the operation of the "Petrochemical Intermediate Product Supply and Demand Inspection Task Force (TF)" and intensify monitoring of core item supplies.

Minister Kim urged, "Please monitor and manage supply and demand in real-time, taking into account even the worst-case scenario of a blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait following the Strait of Hormuz," and added, "Please make thorough preparations so that all available policy capabilities—such as utilizing detour routes and strategic oil swaps—can be fully mobilized in the event of a crisis."