Seoul: Fifteen companies with heavy petroleum consumption have agreed to reduce their annual consumption of oil by 956,000 barrels to join South Korea's ongoing energy-saving efforts, officials said Friday. The companies announced their plan during a meeting with the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment held to discuss ways to reduce industrial energy consumption, which accounts for around 60 percent of the country's total energy consumption, according to the ministry officials.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the companies stated their intention to cut their combined energy consumption by 610,000 tons of oil equivalent (TOE), representing 1.73 percent of their energy use in 2024. Furthermore, they plan to annually cut combined petroleum consumption by 130,000 TOE, equating to approximately 956,000 barrels of oil.

Earlier this week, the government elevated its resource security crisis alert to Level 3, the second-highest level in South Korea's four-tier crisis warning system. This came as the country began experiencing physical disruptions in oil supplies due to the ongoing geopolitical conflict in the Middle East.