Gas Prices At Seoul, South Korea Filling Stations Hit All-Time High

The selling price of gasoline in Seoul exceeded W1,600 (about US$1.6) per liter (1 US gallons = 3.8 liters) for the first time in history on Wednesday as international oil prices continued to soar.Industry sources said some gas stations in Yeouido and southern Seoul hiked their prices above that level, and the Korean oil refinery industry plans to keep raising prices. The record came only one month after surpassing W1,500 per liter in Seoul in mid-July. The price of diesel exceeded W1,270 per liter at some Seoul filling stations. A full tank for the new Sonata 2.0 now costs a whopping W112,000. Consumer prices of gasoline and diesel have surged as international oil prices hit fresh records every day. GS Caltex raised the post-tax supply price of gasoline by W32 to W1,446 from W1,414 on Wednesday. Consumer prices are calculated by adding 5-10 percent of distribution costs to supply prices. SK Corp. raised supply prices of gasoline from W1,408 to W1,419 per liter on Aug. 25 and plans a further increase from Sept. 1. An industry source says gas stations are making no profits since refineries put supply prices up.