GS Caltex shows strong performance in export market
An oil tanker is ready to leave port in Korea with petroleum processed by GS Caltex. / Courtesy of GS Caltex
By Jhoo Dong-chan
GS Caltex is cruising toward an export-driven company profit structure through its aggressive overseas marketing strategy and continuous investments in R&D.
An official of the private oil refiner said Monday in a press release that the company’s export ratio of its total sales reached nearly 70 percent last year. It was at only 26 percent in 2002 but exceeded 50 percent in 2006, recording 67 percent in 2012 and 68.2 percent in 2013.
Also, the company’s export sales reached $20 billion in 2011, the nation’s first oil refinery and second private company to record such overseas performance. In the following year, its export sales exceeded $25 billion.
“GS Caltex’s strong performance in its export market is attributed to the company’s timely investments in refinery and production facilities,” said an official.
“Now, the company has crude oil-refining facilities with a capacity of 785,000 barrels per day, and can desulfurize 272,000 barrels of kerosene and diesel each day.”
In a bid to satisfy global demand for clean and efficient energy, GS Caltex built heavy oil upgrading (HOU) facilities in 1995, which can process about 94,000 barrels of atmospheric residue each day.
In 2007, the company completed the construction of its second HOU facility, its third in 2010 and fourth in 2013 in line with the increased demand for light petroleum products.
GS Caltex also set up overseas corporate bodies in Singapore, London and Abu Dhabi as a part of the company’s overseas business operations, and is receiving 80 types of high-quality crude oil from 30 oil-producing countries, including Middle Eastern, Southeast Asian and African countries.
The company also began environment-friendly polypropylene production in 1988, reaching an annual output of 180,000 tons in 1989.
GS Caltex expanded its polypropylene production capacity with two Chinese facilities in 2006 and 2010 as well as another complex in the Czech Republic in 2011.
GS Caltex first started commercial operations in 1969, producing 60,000 barrels per day at its Yeosu production complex. It has now become the world’s fourth-largest single-site oil refinery.