韩国政府就红海/沙特管道冲击召集四大炼厂开应急会议，研究上调原油运费差价补贴并料延长燃油限价

Korea Weighs Bigger Freight Subsidies as Red Sea Attacks Hit Oil Supply - Seoul Economic Daily
Skip to main content
Seoul Economic Daily
Seoul Economic Daily
KST
Seoul Economic Daily
Korea's Leading Business News Since 1960
한국어
Menu
Saved Articles
Newsletters
AI KEY
Settings
|
Summary
|
Save
A
A
A
The East-West Pipeline in Saudi Arabia lies damaged after a drone attack, in an image provided by Vantor on the 13th, local time. AP/Yonhap
With Middle East conflict spreading beyond the Strait of Hormuz into the Red Sea, the South Korean government has summoned the country's four refiners to draw up emergency measures. Officials are reviewing plans to expand subsidies covering freight cost differences so refiners can import more crude from outside the Middle East, while also checking for shipment delays and damage. The government will also develop an "oil supply and demand stabilization diagnostic index" that combines the factors affecting crude supply.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held an emergency meeting on crude supply conditions on the 14th at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul, chaired by Vice Minister Moon Shin-hak. Executives from the four refiners — SK Energy, GS Caltex, S-Oil and HD Hyundai Oilbank — attended along with Korea National Oil Corp. A government official said crude imports for September and October have already been secured at more than 90% of year-earlier volumes, limiting the immediate impact on domestic supply, but added that the government would mobilize every available policy tool, including monitoring the restart of Saudi Arabia's pipeline and supporting detour routes through the Suez Canal.
The unscheduled meeting was called because the Middle East war has spread beyond the Persian Gulf into the Red Sea. Yemen's pro-Iran Houthi rebels have seized Perim Island and the port of Mokha, both strategic points on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait linking the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline, which had been supplying crude to the world as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, also halted operations after being hit by a drone launched from Iraq. Even after navigation through the Strait of Hormuz became difficult, Saudi Arabia had continued exporting about 5 million barrels a day through that pipeline and the Red Sea port of Yanbu — equal to 4% to 5% of global crude supply.
As the regional situation deteriorates, international crude and refined product prices that had stabilized for a time are climbing again. Dubai crude, which traded at $80.8 a barrel as recently as Aug. 7, jumped to $123.7 on Sept. 11. Brent and West Texas Intermediate are also above $100 a barrel. The international price of gasoline traded in Singapore rose to $147.9 a barrel on the 11th, up 26.8% from a month earlier. Naphtha prices climbed 15.2% over the same period.
The government says it will monitor conditions in the Middle East closely and do everything possible to ensure contracted crude cargoes arrive on schedule. For now, a tanker leaving Yanbu on the Red Sea and routing through the Suez Canal rather than the Bab el-Mandeb Strait needs about 30 additional days of sailing time. Repairing the East-West pipeline will take considerable time, meaning it may be difficult for a while to source Saudi crude even via the Suez detour.
South Korea imported $16.046 billion worth of crude from Saudi Arabia in the first seven months of this year, or 31.3% of the total. The share slipped slightly from a year earlier, but Saudi Arabia remains the largest single supplier. An industry official said tankers already bound for South Korea should arrive without trouble, but warned that supply conditions a month from now would be difficult if the logistics bottleneck in the Middle East drags on.
To cope with the supply crisis, the government is examining whether to raise the subsidy rate for crude freight cost differences, which had been lifted to 100% before being cut back to 25%. The aim is to make it easier for companies to secure crude from the Americas, Africa and Southeast Asia. A government official said the ministry is in talks with related agencies to allow larger payments covering freight cost differences when refiners bring in alternative crude.
Fuel prices are displayed at a gas station in Seoul on the 14th. Photo by Cho Tae-hyung
The government faces a harder decision on the oil price cap, which has remained in place since March 13. The cap was originally introduced on the assumption it would run for about six months, but the U.S.-Iran war has lasted far longer than expected and oil prices are rising again. The industry expects the government will have no choice but to extend the ninth round of the cap, which expires on the 18th, for another term. Depending on conditions, an increase in the ceilings for individual products is also under discussion. Current caps per liter are 1,784 won for gasoline, 1,773 won for diesel and 1,380 won for kerosene.
Another headache is that liquefied natural gas prices swing with crude prices. The Middle East accounts for a small share of LNG imports, so there is no immediate supply problem, but higher prices feed into electricity bills and heating costs with a lag. KEPCO's system marginal price, the wholesale power price, was in the low 100-won range per kilowatt-hour early this year but rose to 133 won in July and 147.88 won in August. KEPCO is generally understood to run an operating loss once the SMP exceeds 146 won per kilowatt-hour. An energy industry official noted that international LNG prices affect domestic market prices with a lag of about a month, and said cost pressures would be substantial as winter approaches and heating demand adds to the load.
Separately, the government is developing indicators to give an at-a-glance reading of oil supply stability in response to geopolitical risk from the Middle East. The Korea Petroleum Quality & Distribution Authority plans to commission a research project on developing an oil supply and demand stabilization diagnostic index. The goal is an index that monitors not only international crude prices but also official selling prices set by Middle Eastern producers and tanker charter rates, and that quantifies risks by supplier country and shipping route as well as government and private stockpiles and jointly held international reserves, to gauge the security of the oil supply chain.
#
KoreaEnergy
#
CrudeOil
#
RedSea
#
OilPrices
#
SaudiArabia
#
KEPCO
Original reporting by
Joo Jae-hyun and Lee Jung-hoon
for Seoul Economic Daily.
AI-translated from Korean. Quotes from foreign sources are based on Korean-language reports and may not reflect exact original wording.
View Korean original
↗
Translation Policy
Watch · Seoul Economic Daily
More →
2:20
KB Securities Sees Samsung Back at No.1, SK Hynix at No.3 Next Year | September 14 2026 | Securities Daily
2:20
Most Read This Week
1
-
5
‹
›
1
JBL Launches Xtreme 5 Bluetooth Speaker With Stronger Bass
2
Korea to Offer 20,000 Homes at 1,000 Won a Day for Young Adults
3
China Pumps 300 Billion Yuan Into Eight Financial Firms
4
Hyundai, POSCO Break Ground on $5.8 Billion U.S. Steel Mill
5
Samsung, SK hynix Memory Stockpiles Fall Below 10 Days
← Back to Home
AI KEY
Preview
↗
Korean Corporate Intelligence Hub
KOSPI · KOSDAQ · 12 sectors
A live, cap-weighted view of every KOSPI and KOSDAQ sector, with same-day Korean reporting distilled by company — built for foreign investors, correspondents and analysts who need to scan Korea before the next session.
Click to explore AI KEY
→
Open AI KEY in full screen
↗
Korea Company Atlas
Preview
↗
Market Ontology · The Feedback Loop
KFTC 2025 · 92 groups · 121,954 articles
An English ontology of the Korean market — how companies, the media, the government and the National Assembly move each other in a loop. Korea's named controlling persons and designated business groups are a mechanism, not a risk to be priced blind.
Click to explore the atlas
→
Open Atlas in full screen
↗
SIGNAL
Now live
↗
English Edition · Capital Markets
M&A · IPO · PE · Fund Flows
SIGNAL English Edition is live — Korea's deal desk reporting in English. M&A, IPOs, private equity and fund flows, covered daily for global institutional investors. Browse free; subscriber-only scoops at the 50% intro rate.
Click to explore SIGNAL
→
Open SIGNAL in full screen
↗