OREANDA-NEWS. Iraq and South Korea will sign an initial agreement for comprehensive cooperation in energy matters covering oil, gas and electricity, which will include a shipment of strategic oil reserves to the Asian country.

 Iraq plans to store about 4 million barrels of oil in South Korea for commercial purposes, to which the Asian country will have preferred rights to use in case of emergency, Iraq Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi told a group of reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of energy ministers in Seoul. Iraq also has plans to set up an office in Seoul for oil exports, Mr. Luaibi added.

 Energy security has long been a hot topic for South Korea, which relies almost fully on imports for its energy needs. State-run Korea National Oil Corp. has the capacity to store up to 146 million barrels of oil, of which 90% was filled as of end-2012, at 132 million barrels.

 Iraq is one of the top crude suppliers to South Korea.

 Under International Energy Agency rules, member countries should have a strategic reserve filled with enough oil for 90 days of normal consumption.