Oil and Gas: South Korean antitrust watchdog punishes price fixers

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog has announced that it will fine four local oil companies a total of 52.6bn won ($55.9m) for price fixing. The Fair Trade Commission said SK, Hyundai Oilbank, GS Caltex and S-Oil colluded to raise prices for petrol, diesel and kerosene from April 1 to June 10 in 2004.

It said it has referred its findings to prosecutors for a possible criminal investigation. The commission said the price-rigging is estimated to have cost consumers $255m, equivalent to about 15 per cent of the firms' combined sales, during the two-month period.

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