South Korea’s Hyundai Oilbank buys first Canadian crude

South Korean refiner Hyundai Oilbank Corp has bought its first cargo of Canadian Cold Lake crude oil that will arrive in late April to early May, three sources with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.

Hyundai, South Korea’s smallest refiner by capacity, bought 300,000 barrels of the crude from Chevron Corp , they said.

The purchase is part of South Korean refiners’ efforts to diversify their crude imports and tap on cheaper oil from Canada.

Chevron’s oil tanker is expected to offload another 250,000-300,000 barrels of the same crude in Thailand after calling on South Korea, the sources said.

The crude could be processed at Chevron’s own refinery in Thailand, they said.

Hyundai Oilbank declined to comment while Chevron typically does not comment on commercial matters.

(Reporting by Florence Tan in SINGAPORE; Additional reporting by Jane Chung in SEOUL; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Gopakumar Warrier)