SEOUL, Feb. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean gas stations are on the brink of a financial crisis after being hit hard by COVID-19 last year. The Korea National Oil Corporation and Korea Oil Station Association reported that 96 gas stations across the country closed down last year, double the number reported in 2019. The [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — The coronavirus pandemic is likely to have come as a big draw on South Korean oil refiners last year as their low refining margins ate into their profitability, industry sources said Sunday. Whipsawed by weak oil prices and sluggish refining margins, industry leader SK Innovation Co. and three other [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — A recent surge in coronavirus infections at home and abroad is likely to come as a big draw on South Korean oil refiners already battered by the fallout from the pandemic, industry sources said Tuesday. Whipsawed by weak oil prices and sluggish refining margins, industry leader SK Innovation Co. [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean major oil refiners are moving heaven and earth to get out of a prolonged slump by shifting their focus to new ventures. SK energy Co., a wholly owned unit of the country’s leading refiner SK Innovation Co., recently revised its articles of incorporation and added ‘telecommunication sales [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean major oil refiners, which have had difficulty getting out of a loss-making business structure, are stepping into the hydrogen business, which was once regarded as a rival to their core operations. The country’s four major refiners — SK Innovation Co., GS Caltex Corp., Hyundai Oilbank Co. and [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean oil refiners’ key profitability measure has remained stuck in negative terrain for weeks, clouding their earnings outlook, industry sources said Tuesday. The benchmark Singapore complex gross refining margin (GRM) was estimated at minus US$0.30 per barrel for the first week of August, marking the fourth straight week [...]
SEOUL, May 3 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean major oil refiners suffered one of their worst quarters in the January-March period, data showed Sunday, as global oil output has far outpaced demand amid the new coronavirus pandemic. S-Oil Corp., the no. 3 oil refiner in South Korea, swung to a record loss of 1 trillion [...]
SEOUL, April 22 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean brokerage houses have sharply cut their first-quarter earnings outlook for major refiners and chemical makers on tumbling oil demand and prices due to the coronavirus outbreak, a market tracker said Wednesday. According to FnGuide, 13 oil refiners, gas firms and chemicals manufacturers are estimated to post a [...]
SEOUL, April 12 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean refiners are expected to report a 2.5 trillion-won (US$2.06 billion) combined operating loss during the first quarter due to lower demand and refining margins, industry sources said Sunday. The country’s four major refiners — SK Innovation Co., GS Caltex Corp., Hyundai Oilbank Co. and S-Oil Corp. — [...]
SEOUL, March 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean oil refiners will likely benefit from a crisis in the U.S. shale industry sparked by plunging international crude prices, industry sources said Wednesday. A recent tumble in oil prices is projected to cut U.S. shale oil firms’ production sharply down the road, leading to a drop in [...]