The South Korean government recently stated that Iraq has promised South Korea that if the U.S. sanctions against Iran disrupt the global oil supply, Iraq will give priority to exporting crude oil to South Korea.

The Ministry of Knowledge Economy, which is responsible for the formulation of industrial and energy policies in South Korea, said that South Korea’s Deputy Minister of Energy, Zhao Shuomin, met with the Iraqi Ministry of Petroleum Shahereshnyi in Baghdad and reached a consensus. “Shahristani said that if South Korea is importing, In the face of oil difficulties and requests for support, Iraq will give priority to shipping crude oil to South Korea."

Iraq is Korea’s fourth largest crude oil supplier and its oil reserves rank fourth in the world. Despite previous commitments to join the sanctions against Iran, South Korea clearly cannot afford the consequences of the geopolitical instability in the Middle East. Most of the country’s crude oil is imported from the Middle East. The Ministry of Knowledge Economy stated that both South Korea and Iraq have unanimously agreed that Iran will import 250,000 barrels of crude oil into South Korea every day if an emergency situation leads to insufficient oil imports from South Korea, which accounts for 10% of South Korea's daily oil imports. South Korea’s total oil imports in 2011 were 926.7 million barrels, of which 9.4% came from Iraq’s neighboring Iran.