The 'Bare Face' of Discount Gas Stations... Bought Cheap Fuel, Resold at High Prices [2023 National Audit]

It has been revealed that more than 1,000 Altteul Gas Stations, which receive crude oil and subsidies cheaply from the government but resell at high prices, have been caught.

According to data received on the 25th from the Korea Petroleum Management Service by Yang Hyang-ja, a member of the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee and a member of Hope of Korea, 1,274 cases of overpriced sales occurred at Altteul Gas Stations that received crude oil at low prices over the past four years.

Currently, there are 1,290 Altteul Gas Stations nationwide, accounting for 11% of all gas stations. Altteul Gas Stations purchase oil from refiners at cost through government joint or separate bidding, resulting in a price difference of 40 to 50 won per liter compared to regular gas stations.

In addition, the government has provided 12.8 billion won in facility improvement subsidies to Altteul Gas Stations over the past 10 years.

As a result, the closure rate of regular gas stations, which have lost competitiveness, has been steadily increasing. Last year alone, 4.1% of regular gas stations were temporarily or permanently closed, while the closure rate for Altteul Gas Stations was only 1%.

The problem is that many Altteul Gas Stations resell crude oil and receive subsidies cheaply from the government but sell at high prices. Over the past four years, there have been 1,274 cases of overpriced sales of cheaply supplied oil. From January to September this year, the Korea National Oil Corporation caught 86 Altteul Gas Stations (including duplicates) engaging in overpriced sales. Considering that there are 421 Altteul Gas Stations in total, this means one out of every five stations committed overpriced sales.

Violations of the Petroleum Business Act have also been pointed out as an issue. Over the past five years, 141 Altteul Gas Stations were caught for selling fake petroleum, substandard quality, or under-measured quantities, totaling 182 cases. This accounts for about 10% of all Altteul Gas Stations. In contrast, only six cases involved the recovery of facility improvement subsidies.

Assembly member Yang stated, "As the government provides such benefits to Altteul Gas Stations, thorough management of sales prices and efforts to prevent illegal activities must be made so that regular gas station operators do not feel deprived."

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