The South Korean government has said that it intends to increase the number of state-owned discount fuel service stations across the country by 10% between now and 2015, a move aimed at curbing the influence of the major refiners on the fuel retail market.
At the moment, the number of government-controlled stations in South Korea totals 785, or 6.1% of the total market. While refiners still boast a large majority in the market – 93.2% -- their influence has receded by 4.5% in the ten months since the government began setting up their discount stations.
“The government will provide more oil products to discount stations with increased incentives and benefits to help boost their competitiveness against refiner-controlled pump stations,†read a statement issued by the country’s energy ministry.
South Korea’s top refiners –Hyundai, Oilbank, S-Oil, Caltex and SK Innovation – have managed to keep hold of their near monopoly on the industry due to renewable fuel contracts they hold with many of the country’s fuel retailers.