South Korea received last month a shipment of Alaskan oil for the first time in at least eight years and may buy more, the importing company said. The country was one of the first to receive a cargo of the ultralight US oil known as condensate after export rules were eased.

The US shale revolution has driven oil output to the highest in more than three decades, reducing America’s need for overseas purchases and sinking global prices into a bear market.

South Korea is seeking to reduce its dependence on Middle East crude just as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (Opec’s) biggest members discount supplies to protect market share and Goldman Sachs Group predicts the group is losing influence.

"The import burden for the US has come down over the last few years," Virendra Chauhan, a London-based analyst at Energy Aspects says.

"A lot more crudes have become available to flow east into countries such as Korea."

South Korea, which imports about 97% of the supplies used to satisfy its energy needs, receives more than a third of its oil from Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter and the largest member in Opec.

Its purchases from other Opec members are declining. Crude imports from Iran fell to 4-million barrels last month, 27% below the five-year average, according to data from Korea National Oil Corporation compiled by Bloomberg. Libyan supplies declined 55% in September from August, while shipments from Iraq fell 16%.

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