GS Caltex Chairman Huh Jin-soo said that GS Caltex will continue on its path to becoming a truly profitable company on occasion of its centennial anniversary, picking up where it left off on the same track that made the oil company a global energy concern through reform and competitive power. Huh made the remarks in his congratulatory speech on the oil refinery’s 50th anniversary on May 19. GS Caltex held a ceremony at its headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, where about 500 executives and employees participated.
"GS Caltex has become the nation's leading energy company in terms of both size and quality. It is an outcome of the company's endless efforts at innovation over the last 50 years," Huh said. "Now is time to prepare for another 50 years of success."
"The impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is landing on our everyday life more quickly than anticipated. Electric and self-driving vehicles will be part of our life soon," Huh said. "We must establish a diversified business portfolio for the company's sustainable growth."
Along with the future strategy team, Huh has high expectations for the synergy between the future strategy and WeDea teams. “WeDea” is a compound word for "we" and "idea," and the team is a project task force for GS Caltex's non-oil refinery business operations.
The company, which achieved a record-breaking operating profit of more than 2 trillion won last year, is pushing for the production of bio butanol which is known as a future fuel, and the expansion of new energy businesses. On May 18, one day before the foundation anniversary, GS Caltex held a commemorative ceremony at the Amoris Hall of GS Tower in Seoul's Gangnam attended by its 500 employees and guests.
Since 2011 the company has invested some 11 trillion won to increase overall competitiveness in exports. The company’s exports accounted for 71 percent of total annual sales last year, increasing from 2000’s 23 percent. In 2016, GS Caltex’s annual operating profit reached 2.1 trillion won, up 64 percent on-year. The 2016 annual net profit of the company also rose 45.8 percent on-year to 1.4 trillion won.
In the first quarter this year, GS Caltex‘s sales recorded 7.2 trillion won, a 32.5 percent increase, compared with the same period last year. Its operating profit was 585 billion won, gaining 85.2 percent on-year.
GS Caltex is currently in the process of building a plant in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, to produce bio butanol, a biofuel that can be used as a substitute for gasoline. GS Caltex will invest some 50 billion won in its construction. The plant is expected to produce 400 metric tons of bio butanol annually when construction finishes later this year, the company said. Its annual turnover last year reached 25 trillion won, compared to just 1.2 billion won in 1967 when the oil refinery went on stream for the first time.
GS Caltex was founded on May 19, 1967 as Honam Oil Refinery, a 50:50 joint venture established by Rakhee Chemical Industry (currently LG Chem) and Caltex, a subsidiary of Chevron.
Honam Oil Refinery changed its name to LG Caltex in 1996 and to GS Caltex in 2005 when GS Group was inaugurated. GS Caltex's daily oil-refining capacity rose from 60,000 barrels in 1969 to 790,000 barrels today, with its annual sales rising from 11.4 billion won to 25.77 trillion won. The oil refinery shipped $25 billion worth of oil products overseas in 2012 to win the $25 Billion Export Tower for the first time. The oil company’s exports shared around 71 percent of its total revenue annually as they were delivered to 58 countries around the world ranked as the 4th largest oil products exporters in the world.
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