By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter
The government made Friday its first official disclosure of gas supply prices, but the result upset conventional wisdom.
Under the Knowledge Economy Ministry's initiative to add competition for oil refiners, the survey showed SK Energy was the lowest at 1,398 won for one liter of medium-quality gasoline, while S-OIL's supply price was the highest at 1,414 won.
The problem surrounds the fact that the prices are virtually in reverse order of prices at the pump, with no clear-cut explanations by the ministry.
With 1,561 won, SK Energy's gas was the most pricey to customers, 6 won per liter higher than GS Caltex. S-Oil (1,541.4 won) and Hyundai Oilbank (1,541.1 won) were Nos. 3 and 4.
Other refineries said there should be amendments to the standards of statistics.
``It is a far-fetched comparison if it doesn't consider different price-setting structures for different refineries," S-OIL spokesman Lee Dong-hoon said.