Company
South Korean oil refiner and petrochemical producer, majority-owned by Saudi Aramco and one of Korea's four major refiners.
A toluene tank fire at an Ulsan chemical plant forced about 7,000 workers off part of S-Oil's Shaheen project site on Oct. 14. Both accounts call the stoppage partial; the cost to the project calendar will be set by how long that section stays idle.
Reality
Korea's Fair Trade Commission accuses SK Energy and HD Hyundai Oilbank of four years of fuel price sharing, with fines of up to about 4.6 trillion won. The bill turns on how the commission prices that sharing, the conduct behind most of the 44.1 trillion won in related sales.
Perspective Coverage
3 publishersReality
The trade ministry summoned Korea's four refiners on the 14th to weigh paying more of the freight gap on crude from the Americas, Africa and Southeast Asia. September and October cargoes are already more than 90% secured.
Reality
The trade ministry summoned SK Energy, GS Caltex, S-Oil and HD Hyundai Oilbank on the 14th, with spot Dubai crude up 53% in five weeks and the freight differential rate, once 100% and now 25%, back under review.
Reality
Korean refiners have run hard past the index this month, but the margin holding them up comes from Saudi Arabia repricing Asian crude by $11.50 a barrel and from product plants that have not come back yet.
Reality