S. Korea's oil product exports jump 63.5 pct in Feb.

SEOUL, March 31 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's exports of refined oil products shot up 63.5 percent on-year in February, fueled by steady economic growth and higher energy prices, the government said Thursday.
The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said overseas shipments of such products as diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, naphtha and Bunker-C oil topped US$3.46 billion last month from $2.12 billion a year earlier.
The volume of total shipments also reached 31.51 million barrels worth of oil products, up 19.5 percent from 26.36 million barrels last year.
"The steady pace of global economic growth and higher crude oil costs combined to create the sharp export gain in February," the ministry said.
Refined fuel products were the fourth largest export commodity for South Korea last month after ships, semiconductors and petrochemicals, it said.
Exports to China, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia and Hong Kong all rose at double-digit rates. Shipments to China, the largest consumer of locally made petroleum goods, jumped 32.6 percent on-year, with growth rates reaching 70.1 percent for Singapore and 55.9 percent for Japan.
The report, meanwhile, showed domestic consumption of petroleum products reaching 63.72 million barrels in February, up 1.5 percent from a year earlier.