By Kang Seung-woo
GS Caltex, the nation’s No. 2 oil refiner, has had trouble providing gas to its service stations near the capital due to a shortage of supply, the company said.
However, its supply returned to normal levels as of Monday afternoon.
According to the company, orders weren’t delivered to some GS Caltex gas stations in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province and they were unable to open for three straight days.
When all four local oil refiners rushed to mark down their oil prices by 100 won per liter in April, a few refiners were reluctant to supply gas to unaffiliated stations, but a failure to supply affiliated stations by a major oil refiner is seen as a rare case.
“Since the price cuts in April, demand for gas has been higher than estimated. As a result, we could not supply gas at the necessary time,” said an official of GS Caltex.
“However, our supply returned to normal from Monday afternoon.”
Observers analyzed that due to the markdown, GS has been swallowing losses in the face of increasing pressure from the government, which is trying to tame inflation, so it may have put off offering oil products to its affiliated gas stations.
“As the oil refinery was forced to slash oil prices under government pressure, the more companies sell, the higher their deficits become,” said an official in the industry.
“Frankly speaking, refiners will be able to make more profit if they increase exports, while reducing the proportion of domestic sales.”
SK Innovation, the nation’s largest crude refiner, is offering a discount of 100 won per liter in the form of refunds that consumers can receive through credit card settlement or membership cards, while GS, S-Oil and Hyundai are directly offering lower prices at gas stations. The price cut is scheduled to end in early July.