Global Oil Prices Drop, But When Will Gas Station Prices Follow?

[Anchor]

Overnight, international oil prices fell into the $70 range. This is the first time since early March, immediately after the start of the war between Iran and the U.S. While prices are expected to decline further, it appears it will take quite some time before consumers feel the impact of lower prices in their daily lives.

Park Jaehyeon reports.

[Reporter]

Following the war between the U.S. and Iran, airline fuel surcharges, which immediately reflect oil price trends, soared to record highs.

[Yoo Young-jun / Outbound Traveler: I bought a plane ticket for 600,000 won, but it was canceled (in March). Then I had to pay an additional 400,000 won to buy it again because I had already booked a resort.]

International oil prices have been gradually stabilizing since last month, when peace negotiations became visible.

As a result, fuel surcharges, which were lowered once this month, will be reduced by another 20% for tickets issued starting next month.

For Korean Air, this means a reduction of 15,100 won for short-haul one-way flights and 107,500 won for the longest routes.

However, consumers still feel the burden of high fuel costs, with gasoline and diesel prices at gas stations nationwide exceeding 2,000 won per liter.

It takes at least two to three weeks for international oil prices to be reflected in consumer prices due to the processes of transportation, refining, and distribution.

There are also concerns that gas stations may be slower to lower prices than they were to raise them, citing existing high-cost inventory.

[Kim Hae-beom / Yangcheon-gu, Seoul: Fuel prices have risen so much that I even considered switching to a smaller car; the impact is severe. They say it takes a long time to actually feel the difference (even when international oil prices drop).]

The prevailing outlook is that oil prices may not drop much further for a while, as it will take time to restore damaged crude oil facilities and countries are competing to secure strategic reserves.

[Kim Tae-hwan / Head of Oil Policy Research, Korea Energy Economics Institute: (From May to September) is naturally a period of high demand. When you add the demand to replenish (refinery) inventories and the demand for strategic reserves from various countries, even if the (strait) were to open right now, demand remains very solid during this period.]

The government plans to announce the 7th maximum oil price on Thursday, June 18, after comprehensively reviewing the details of the memorandum of understanding on the end of the war between the U.S. and Iran, the situation regarding passage through the Strait of Hormuz, and international oil price trends.

Reported by Park Jaehyeon | Video by Park Hyun-cheol | Video Editing by Choi Jin-hwa | Graphics by Kim Han-gil and Park Tae-young
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.