The Korea Petroleum Association (KPA), representing the country's four major refiners, said it would "do its utmost to ensure stable domestic supply of petroleum products." The statement came a day after prosecutors raided the four refiners — SK Energy, GS Caltex, S-Oil, and HD Hyundai Oilbank — as well as the association itself, after detecting signs of price-fixing collusion.
The association said the refiners "have been mobilizing all available means to secure alternative crude oil supplies since the outbreak of war in the Middle East." It added that refined petroleum products would continue to be supplied to the domestic market on a priority basis.
The association emphasized that "the refining industry is actively cooperating with the government's 'petroleum maximum price system,' which took effect on the 13th." It said it would also work closely with gas station operators to ensure the stable implementation of the "second maximum price system" set to be announced on the 27th, minimizing the impact of international oil prices on domestic gas station prices.
Prosecutors are investigating allegations that the refiners colluded to arbitrarily raise or freeze prices of fuel and petroleum products distributed domestically through prior coordination. The investigation is reportedly expanding its scope, examining records not only from the period following the outbreak of war but also from past periods of high oil price volatility.
President Lee Jae-myung had warned on the 9th, after domestic oil prices showed signs of rising in the wake of the U.S. strikes on Iran, that "forces seeking to exploit difficult market conditions for unjust profits must be strictly dealt with." He stressed that "illegal acts such as collusion, hoarding, and stockpiling by refiners and gas stations must be thoroughly cracked down on, and if violations occur, severe sanctions amounting to several times the profits gained must be imposed."
Justice Minister Jeong Seong-ho also criticized oil price collusion as "an anti-social serious criminal act that seeks to turn the suffering of the people into an opportunity for profiteering," and ordered the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to respond firmly.
