Gasoline Stations Succumb to Dwindling Demand

Gasoline stations are closing down kept, right and center as the coronavirus lockdown exacerbates their dwindling revenue.

In line with the Korea Essential oil Station Association about Sunday, doubly many gasoline stations closed down this past year as in 2019. Nowadays there are fewer than 10,000 gasoline stations go by the big refineries SK Energy, GS Caltex, Hyundai Oilbank and S Essential oil for the very first time in 20 years.

As of the finish of 2020, there have been 11,402 gasoline stations in Korea, 96 less than the entire year before, when only 49 gasoline stations closed.

Stations operating beneath the four main refineries fell from 10,140 in 2019 to 9,992 as being gasoline and diesel intake dwindled 3.7 percent amid declining traffic volume as a result of lockdown.

A rise in eco-friendly vehicles also contributed to the decline. This past year, electrical, hybrid and hydrogen-fueled automobiles accounted for 11.8 percent of all revenue in Korea, up almost four percentage points from a year earlier.

A gas station in Seoul is transformed right into a commercial complex.

But gas stations have been suffering from deteriorating earnings even prior to the pandemic as essential oil prices plunged. Their amount peaked at 13,004 in 2010 2010 and possesses been falling since.

Experts put the optimum number of gasoline stations at just 8,000 now.

The outlook for operators is bleak although Mother Nature may breathe a sigh of relief. The Korea Energy Economics Institute stated in a recently available report that gasoline stations will dwindle by more than 8,000 over the next 20 years because of the increasing amount of EVs and hydrogen cars. It said the sector here "has recently seen profitability deteriorate because of excessive competition" and can decline by 1.3 percent annually over another decade. That means only 2,980 gas stations will survive by 2040.

Owners and refiners are seeking ways to diversify. An increasing number of owners will be setting up electric power and hydrogen charging stations and encouraging ease stores, fast-food restaurants and coffee shops wide open on their premises.

Refiners are also seeking to rent their terrain across the country to logistics firm for use while warehouses.