Mexican state oil company Pemex said on Thursday it has signed a contract with South Korea’s Hyundai to sell the company crude in the second half of this year.
A Pemex spokesman said the contract calls for 5 million barrels to be sold to Hyundai Oilbank Co Ltd, mostly heavy Maya crude as well as some of Pemex’s Isthmus light crude.
“The contract remains open for additional sales,” the spokesman added, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with company policy.
Hyundai Oilbank Co Ltd is a major producer and distributor of oil and refined products in South Korea, and is part of conglomerate Hyundai Group.
In March, the head of Pemex’s trading arm PMI said that by the end of this year the company expected to double crude exports to South Korea, one of the firm’s top markets as it seeks to diversify its sales away from the United States.
Pemex announced earlier this year a 1 million barrel crude shipment to South Korea’s second-biggest refiner, GS Caltex Corp, the first installment of a separate 5 million barrels in shipments to the country that was expected to be finalized in April.
(Reporting by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)
