Fuel supply jitters in South Korea are worsening in the fallout from the Middle East war, with some gas stations now limiting how much customers can buy. The move comes as refiners have reduced deliveries to discount stations in cities and at highway rest stops.
Industry officials said Sunday that multiple EX-OIL discount stations on expressways, operated under the Korea Expressway Corp., have posted limits of 30,000 won per person for gasoline and 100,000 won per person for diesel.
A government price cap that took effect March 13 has pushed down the national average price at gas stations, but some drivers are finding it harder to buy as much fuel as they want.
The Korea Expressway Corp. said March 12 it would work with joint-purchase suppliers such as SK Energy and GS Caltex to stabilize supply. On the ground, however, EX-OIL stations say conditions are tightening.
An EX-OIL station official said stations had been receiving contracted joint-purchase volumes from SK Energy and GS Caltex and, when short, secured additional supplies through separate contracts with refiners including HD Hyundai Oilbank and S-Oil.
Recently, those additional supplies outside the joint-purchase volumes have been cut off, another station official said. “With it getting harder to secure volumes, we can’t sell as much fuel as customers want,” the official said, adding that continuing operations has become difficult.
The official said one refiner that had provided extra supply sent an email notice saying it could not supply oil this month.
Some in the industry say the government’s price cap may have affected the supply structure for highway stations. With profitability squeezed by price controls, refiners may have less incentive to provide extra volumes beyond joint-purchase contracts, reducing shipments that had been headed to expressway stations.
If a disruption tied to the Strait of Hormuz persists, the purchase limits now seen at some stations could spread across highway stations, and similar restrictions could also emerge at discount stations in cities, the report said.
Because crude shipments from the Middle East to South Korea typically take about a month, officials warned a gap in Middle Eastern crude arriving domestically could emerge in late March or early April. As a result, consumers may be unable to buy as much gasoline or diesel as they want regardless of the price cap.
A refining industry official said refiners are struggling to secure supply even for their own branded stations and are therefore cutting volumes sold into the spot market, including to discount stations.
The Korea Expressway Corp. said it is discussing with the government and refiners ways to secure additional joint-purchase volumes to stabilize supply.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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