Business leaders in the energy community pledge their determination to overcome a crisis at a New Year’s gathering in Seoul on Jan. 22. Shown on hand at the event are Minister Yoon Sang-jick of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Deputy Minister Chung Yang-ho of the Office of Energy and Resources at the MOTIE, Director General Park Il-joon for Energy and Resources Policy at the MOTIE, KEPCO President Cho Hwan-eik, GS Caltex Hur Dong-soo, POSCO Energy President Hwang Eun-yeon, SK Innovation President Chung Chul-khil, GS Caltex Vice Chairman Hur Jin-soo, S-Oil CEO Nasser Al-Mahasher, Hyundai Oilbank President Moon Jong-bak, Yesco Chairman Koo Ja-chul, Samtan President Kim Sung-kuk, LG CNS President Kim Dae-hoon, OCI Vice Chairman Kim Sang-yeol, and Secretary General Yeom Myeong-cheon of Korea Energy Foundation.(Photo:NewsWorld)

At a New Year’s gathering in Seoul on Jan. 22, business leaders in the energy community pledged to overcome the hard times the energy industry is undergoing. 

“This year will be a year when it is the most important for the government and the private sector to join forces and proactively cope with rapidly changing conditions,” said Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy Yoon Sang-jick. 

In a speech at the event, Minister Yoon said the energy community is facing major challenges, he called for changes amid plunging crude oil prices. He also called for full-fledged discussions for a new climate change regime and reinforced safety of energy facilities. 

Now is the time when the energy community should change its way of thinking for exploring new opportunities in accordance with calls for change, and expanded investments into the energy industry will serve as a significant breakthrough to tide over the crisis, Yoon said. 

Minister Yoon called for all industries, including power, gas and petroleum, to pay attention to the new energy industry, emerging as a promising one through a combination of the energy industry, IT, financial and other industries, and transfer it into opportunities of new changes. The new energy industry field refers to such segments as new and renewable energy sources, electric vehicles, carbon capture/storage, smart grids, energy storage systems, energy management systems, intelligent demand response and energy service companies. 

Minister Yoon and MOTIE officials had a closed-door meeting with energy company CEOs to lend an ear to voices of the energy field prior to the New Year’s gathering. 

Among some 200 participants at the event were POSCO Energy President Hwang Eun-yeon, SK Innovation President Chung Chul-khil, GS Caltex Vice Chairman Hur Jin-soo, S-Oil CEO Nasser Al-Mahasher, Hyundai Oilbank President Moon Jong-bak, Yesco Chairman Koo Ja-chul, Samtamn President Kim Sung-kuk, LG CNS President Kim Dae-hoon, OCI Vice Chairman Kim Sang-yeol, IDRS President Kang Hye-jung, and begins President Park Joon-suk. 

The CEOs on hand at the New Year’s event have a toast, saying “vincero,” which is an Italian word that means victory, to show their collective determination to turn this crisis into opportunities. SK Innovation President Chung proposed the toast and the chant. Chung took the helm of SK Innovation as a “relief pitcher” to steer the company out of the downturn in SK Group’s latest reshuffle.

“There is a saying ‘Do not waste this crisis and we have to seize up this situation as chances to turn a crisis into blessings, as MOTIE Minister Yoon said earlier,’” President Chung said. 

Chung said that even though the industry is faced with a crisis, things will improve. He then led the chant: “Energy Businesses, Creative Economy, Republic of Korea.”

The energy industry has suffered in the last year due to such business uncertainties as the economic downturn and declining crude oil prices. Predictions indicate that business conditions are likely to not be much better this year. 

The government’s imposing of regulations will likely exacerbate energy companies’ profitability. In particular, starting this year, the government will impose a 1 percent tariff on crude oil for producing naphtha, which will be a tax burden amounting to some 110 billion won annually to the energy industry. 

Furthermore, the government has pressured the energy industry to lower petrochemical product prices to the extent people can feel relief from declining crude oil prices.