Shafaqna English– S-Oil, the South Korean refiner that counts Saudi Aramco as its largest shareholder, announced on Monday(3 Aug 2026) that it anticipates its refining margins for the third quarter will remain resilient.
This positive outlook is underpinned by several supportive factors, including robust seasonal demand from the summer driving season, increased electricity consumption driven by extreme heatwaves, and the imposition of fuel export restrictions in certain countries, all of which are expected to tighten regional supply-demand balances and sustain profitability for refiners in the region.
In the April-June period, S-Oil’s flagship refinery in Ulsan, which has a daily crude processing capacity of 669,000 barrels, operated at just 76% of its capacity, according to the company’s operational update. This marks a significant drop from the 85% utilization rate seen in the first three months of the year and a steep decline from the 96% throughput recorded in the same period of 2025.