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South Korean Prosecutors Charge Four Refiners With Colluding on Fuel Prices
All four South Korean refiners face charges over alleged coordination that caused $17 billion in harm. Prosecutors also charged four employees after the February outbreak of war between the United States, Israel and Iran.
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com reported. The companies named in reporting are SK Energy, HD Hyundai Oilbank, GS Caltex and S-Oil. Two of the refiners, SK Energy and HD Hyundai Oilbank, coordinated on the size and timing of price increases after the war between the United States, Israel and Iran began at the end of February, according to the lead prosecutor.
Prosecutors also charged four individual employees. The refiners used unfair contracts to pressure fuel station operators to raise prices in line with their plans, OilPrice.com reported. One charged employee had exchanged pricing information with rivals for several years before the war.
"We found the surge in fuel prices following the Iran war was driven by collusion practices that had long been pervasive in the industry," the lead prosecutor stated. South Korea imports most of its crude oil, with 70 percent coming from the Middle East.
In the early days of the war the government imposed a fuel price ceiling for the first time in three decades and later set driving limits for civil servants in March.
