Refiners' Losses Estimated at 4 Tril. Won in Q1
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is planning to set up a council with oil refining companies to discuss how to reduce charges related to the import and sale of petroleum.
At present, oil-related companies in South Korea must pay 16 won per liter in importing crude oil and petroleum products and must pay 36 won per liter and 62,283 won per ton in selling high-octane gasoline and butane in South Korea, respectively. The charges added up to more than 1.8 trillion won last year and the amount is quite burdensome for those companies, whose losses are estimated at four trillion won in the first quarter of this year alone.
The companies asked the ministry to cut the charges with the COVID-19 pandemic affecting their business, and the ministry deferred the payment deadlines for their April to June charges, approximately 900 billion won in total, on April 7. The new council is for a more fundamental review of the charges.
The ministry is planning to review the government’s oil stockpiling policy, too. This is because extremely low oil prices have been triggered by conflicts among oil-producing countries such as the United States, Russia and Middle East countries and are predicted to be prolonged.