韩国炼油股因炼油利润率扩大已在8月大涨，当前报道更像行情复盘而非新增催化

Shares of South Korean refiners rallied across the board last month as refining margins widened on improved crude procurement and tight supply of petroleum products. Expectations for stronger profitability are building on the view that prices for gasoline, diesel and other refined products will fall more slowly than crude prices stabilize.
S-Oil (010950) rose 23.3% in August to 150,100 won from 121,700 won, according to the Korea Exchange on the 1st. GS, which owns refiner GS Caltex, surged 50.2% to 127,100 won from 84,600 won over the same period. SK Innovation (096770) gained 16.2% to 125,500 won from 108,000 won.
The rally was driven by improving refining margins. Crude supply from the Middle East remains disrupted by the prolonged war between the United States and Iran, but procurement through alternative routes is gradually recovering. Restoring refining capacity and normalizing product supply are taking comparatively longer, widening the gap between crude and product prices, analysts said.
Input costs are also easing. Saudi Arabia's official selling price for crude shipped to Asia fell sharply to minus $2.0 a barrel in September from $9.5 a barrel in July. The OSP is the premium producers add to a benchmark crude price, and a lower OSP reduces what Korean refiners pay for crude imports.
Low global product inventories are also supporting margins. Commercial oil stocks in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development stand at their lowest level since April 2014. U.S. gasoline inventories were at their lowest since 2012 as of July, and European kerosene and diesel stocks were at their lowest since July 2022. That means much of any additional output would likely go toward rebuilding inventories first.
Analysts expect strong refining margins to persist for some time even if the war ends. Crude supply chains can normalize relatively quickly, but repairing refining, power and desulfurization units and rebuilding product inventories take longer.
"Crude procurement uncertainty is easing through pipelines and alternative shipping routes, and a lower OSP brings down input costs," said Lee Jin-myung, an analyst at Shinhan Securities. "With delayed repairs to facilities in the Middle East and Russia and low inventories, prices for kerosene, diesel and jet fuel will fall more slowly than crude."