Oil consumption in South Korea dropped last year for the first time in five years as the country used more electricity and gas, especially for heating. South Korea used 826.84 million barrels of oil last year, a drop of 0.1% on 2012.
Since the 1997 Asian economic crisis, South Korea has been cutting its dependence on imported oil. Petroleum met 60.4% of the country’s energy needs in 1997. It is now 38.1%.
Instead, South Korea is using imported natural gas and employs nuclear power to generate much of its electricity.
