Seoul, Feb 2 Exports of gasoline and diesel by major refiners in South Korea hit a record high last year, with over 50 percent of all imported crude oil shipped overseas after being refined here, data showed on Sunday.
The four leading refiners in the country -- SK Energy Co., GS Caltex Corp., S-Oil Corp. and Hyundai Oilbank Co. -- shipped 111.89 million barrels of gasoline and 211.66 million barrels of diesel in 2024, according to the Korea Petroleum Association.
The combined total marks the highest export volume since the association began compiling such data in 1992.
The overall exports of petroleum products increased 4.8 percent from a year earlier to 490.45 million barrels in 2024, marking the second-highest figure in history after the record high set in 2018.
Despite the increase in export volume, the companies' earnings from exports declined 2.9 percent on-year to US$45.17 billion due to a fall in global prices.
The association attributed the rise in export volume to domestic refiners' efforts to seek a "breakthrough" amid a downtrend in the refining margin by expanding exports of light oil products.
Meanwhile, the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) will likely post an operating profit for 2024, marking its first operating profit in four years on recent rate hikes, data showed on Sunday.
KEPCO is forecast to log an annual operating profit of 8.86 trillion won ($6.07 billion) for last year, swinging from a loss of 4.57 trillion won in 2023, according to data compiled by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.
For the fourth quarter, the company is expected to report an operating profit of 2.9 trillion won.
KEPCO has reported an operating loss for three consecutive years since 2021, posting a combined loss of 43 trillion won, due to soaring global energy prices sparked by the Russia-Ukraine war and other geopolitical factors.
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