FTC might fine oil firms trillions of won

The Fair Trade Commission, which is investigating whether domestic oil refineries colluded with each other to set consumer prices for oil products, is planning to impose up to more than 1 trillion won in punitive fines if the suspicion is verified. Such a penalty would be the largest amount ever imposed in Korea.

Lee Nam-Kee, head of the FTC, told reporters that the commission has imposed a 190.1 billion won fine on refining companies for the irrationality involved in supplying products to the army, adding that the FTC also was investigating the possible price collusion. If the companies are found to have colluded, the fine might reach into the trillions of won.

The FTC has been investigating since August suspicions of collusion on consumer prices of oil among SK Oil, LG-Caltex Oil, S Oil, Hyundai Oil and Inchon Oil, as well as their interruption to hamper importers in violation of the Fair Trade Act.