"Fell by the Amount of Oil Tax Cut"…Gasoline Prices at Gas Stations Decline for 5 Consecutive Weeks

162 KRW Drop from Pre-Fuel Tax Cut Peak (1810.1 KRW)
5 Weeks Needed for Full Fuel Tax Cut Effect (164 KRW, 20%)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Gasoline prices at gas stations have fallen for five consecutive weeks. Since the implementation of the fuel tax reduction, prices have dropped nearly 20% (162 KRW) from the peak (1,810.1 KRW) in five weeks.

According to the Korea National Oil Corporation's oil price information service OPINET on the 18th, the nationwide gasoline retail price in the third week of December recorded 1,648.9 KRW per liter, down 15.8 KRW from the previous week.

The average nationwide gasoline price at gas stations has shown weekly declines of 90.4 KRW → 29.1 KRW → 9.8 KRW → 13.0 KRW → 15.8 KRW since the fuel tax reduction was implemented on December 12 last month. During the 2018 fuel tax reduction, it took about 11 days for the average gasoline price to drop by the amount corresponding to the 15% tax cut, but this year it took longer than expected.

By region, Seoul, which has the highest price, recorded 1,704.9 KRW per liter, down 15.7 KRW from the previous week. Busan, the region with the lowest price, recorded 1,614.1 KRW per liter, down 12.7 KRW from the previous week.

By brand, the average gasoline price at Alttul gas stations was the lowest at 1,621.8 KRW per liter. SK Energy gas stations had the highest gasoline price at 1,657.0 KRW per liter.

The average diesel retail price also fell by 17.7 KRW from the previous week to 1,472.1 KRW per liter.

International crude oil and international gasoline prices also rose slightly for two consecutive weeks. The average price of Dubai crude oil, the benchmark for crude oil imported into Korea, rose by 0.3 dollars from the previous week to 73.2 dollars. The international gasoline price, which serves as the benchmark for domestic gasoline retail prices, also rose by 1.7 dollars to 86.5 dollars.

The Korea National Oil Corporation explained, "This week, international oil prices are on the rise due to factors such as a decrease in U.S. crude oil inventories and forecasts of increased oil demand from OPEC."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.