Four Major Oil Refiners Indicted for 26 Trillion Won Price-Fixing Scheme While Cheering "Long Live Trump"

[Anchor]

Four domestic oil refining companies and their executives have been indicted for colluding to significantly raise fuel prices under the pretext of the war between the United States and Iran. While citizens struggled with high fuel costs, internal group chats at these companies reportedly included messages such as "Long live Trump."

Reporter Jeon Yeonnam has the story.

[Reporter]

In March, the average price of gasoline in Seoul soared well past 1,800 won per liter.

At the time, the surge was attributed to the war between the U.S. and Iran, but a prosecution investigation has revealed that organized collusion among domestic oil refiners was the actual cause.

The prosecution stated that the collusion led by HD Hyundai Oilbank and SK Energy amounted to 14.2 trillion won. When accounting for GS Caltex and S-Oil, which raised their prices by referencing the collusive pricing of the first two companies, the total impact of the anti-competitive price-fixing reached approximately 26 trillion won.

The prosecution concluded that there was no reason for prices to skyrocket, as the four major refiners had already stockpiled a significant amount of crude oil at the time.

In connection with this, investigations revealed that a group chat for the pricing department of one refiner contained messages such as, "As expected, a company that feeds off war. Long live Trump," and "We are raising the price by 100 won today. We will likely earn 2 trillion won this year."

[Na Hee-seok / Director of the Fair Trade Investigation Department at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office: The surge in oil prices immediately after the war shows that the collusive practices already chronic in the industry were manifested in a more blatant form, taking advantage of the economic crisis.]

The prosecution also identified problems in the unfair distribution process, where refiners unilaterally set supply prices, forcing small gas stations to receive their entire supply and settle the final price at the end of the month based on the refiners' fixed rates.

Because gas stations lose the opportunity to purchase fuel at lower prices, they are forced to raise their retail prices, a structure that ultimately shifts the entire burden onto consumers.

The prosecution announced that it has indicted the four major oil refiners and four of their executives on charges including violations of the Fair Trade Act.

(Video reporting: Yang Hyun-cheol | Video editing: Jung Yong-hwa)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.