N. Korea capable of storing up to one year's worth of oil needs: U.S. think tank

SEOUL, Sept. 1 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has the capacity to store up to 1.5 million tons of oil, which is capable of meeting all its oil needs for about one year without outside supply, a U.S. think tank report showed Tuesday.

According to the report by Nautilus Institute, the North's oil storage facilities can stock up on around 1-1.5 million tons. The report is based on its analysis of already known storage facilities and Google images on suspected areas in the North, it said.

"Estimates suggest that the DPRK has oil storage facilities that could accommodate on the order of 1 to 1.5 million tonnes of crude oil and (mostly) oil products," the report said, using the acronym of the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"This would be the equivalent of about one year's worth of our estimates of domestic oil products produced in the DPRK's refineries plus our estimates of oil products imports in recent years combined," it added.

The report noted that around 500,000 cubic meters of storage volume was added to the Central Intelligence Agency's earlier estimate, given that the North might be operating undetected underground facilities.

North Korea is currently under global sanctions restricting its oil imports.

Under U.N. Resolution 2397, adopted in 2017 after the North's missile provocations, the annual amount of oil shipped to North Korea cannot exceed 500,000 barrels, equivalent to some 60,000-70,000 tons. Member countries are asked to report their oil shipments to the North.

kokobj@yna.co.kr
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