The Year of ‘Bridge to the Future’

GS Caltex Corporation has set its vision to become a “leader in providing total energy services” and make the highest profit in the Pacific area. In order to achieve this vision, the company has set 2010 as “the year of Bridge to the Future” for both existing and emerging business areas.

Hur Dong-soo, Chairman & CEO, said in a New Year kick-off meeting that profits from existing business areas, such as base oil, aromatics and petrochemicals should be sustainable with new growth areas such as fuel cells, thin film batteries, carbon materials and resources development. Hur also asked employees to put three principles into practice; the promotion of cost competitiveness, optimization of manufacturing and sales facilities, and accelerated exploration of new areas.

GS Caltex aims to optimize the overall process of purchasing, refining, and selling of crude oil while maximizing manufacturing competitiveness and the export of oil and petrochemicals based on timely facility investment. It also aims to promote R&D to develop overseas oilfields and new and renewable energy. According to the company, these have been devised to minimize the risks resulting from the prolonged global economic depression. First of all, GS Caltex plans to complete the No.3 HOU (Heavy Oil Upgrading), which is the largest project since the company’s establishment, with an investment of three trillion won and operate this from the latter half of the year. When the advanced refining facilities with a daily production capacity of 60,000 barrels are completed, profitability will be improved through diversification of export markets based on improved manufacturing of environment-friendly light oil. Furthermore, the continued facility and process improvement for existing oil and petrochemical facilities will increase competitiveness in manufacturing.

GS Caltex, based on accumulated knowhow in fuel cells, has focused on developing and commercializing fuel cells for household and commercial purposes, and test-operated a hydrogen station for automobiles using fuel cells. The company has significantly developed the area of bio fuels, including thin film batteries, biobutanol, and bio-alcohol. It has also entered into the areas of photovoltaic power for gas stations and smart grids.

In addition, the company established ‘Power Carbon Technology’ with Nippon Oil Corporation, Japan’s largest oil refining company, to produce carbon materials for Electrical Double Layer Capacitors (EDLC), an environment-friendly energy storage system. From the first half of this year, carbon materials for EDLC with a yearly manufacturing capacity of 300 tons, the biggest in the world, will be mass-produced.

In order to secure national energy and contribute to more self-sufficient national energy use, GS Caltex has, despite high oil prices and an unstable global economy, promoted overseas oilfield development in Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. In the long term, the company is planning to be self-sufficient for up to 10% of its daily refining capacity. The company also aims to expand in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and South America. Meanwhile, its business in China is likely to bloom this year. Since 2007, the company has established gas-contributing corporations in major cities including Qingdao, Jinan and Yantai in Shandong Province, while through the acquisition of Langfang Jiashi Chemical, a Chinese polypropylene manufacturer, the company now supplies polypropylene to Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors and LG Electronics. Hur, in addition to his three requests for the New Year, asked employees to seek a long-term solutionto reduce oil consumption for low-carbon green growth. The CEO also emphasized the importance of stable labor relations, the prevention of industrial disasters, and the practice of promoting organizational cultures to achieve these aims.