South Korea's oil former sellers take a step toward sustainable aviation fuel business, but adoption and expansion uncertain

As a follow-up measure to the Petroleum Business Law revised in February, the revised Enforcement Order for the Petroleum and Petroleum Alternative Fuel Business Law will come into effect on August 7.
The gist of the change is that the scope of production for sellers has been expanded to include "mixtures of eco-friendly raw materials." The applicable fuels are listed in the Enforcement Order as waste plastic pyrolysis oil, biomass, and other fuels from petroleum refineries.
The oil formers industry is currently testing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). S Oil became the first Korean company to sell biofuel in January.
HD Hyundai Oilbank produces SAF through a co-processing method that combines petroleum and animal and plant bio-based raw materials into existing oil refinery facilities, and is the first Korean company to export SAF.
In September 2023, GS Caltex provided the SAF to a Korean Air freighter operating between Incheon and Los Angeles in the United States, and conducted a trial run for three months.
However, there are currently no SAF manufacturing facilities in Korea. The reasons for this include the low demand for SAF, its unpopular use, and its high price.
In response, the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will hold discussions with experts and related departments in the oil and aviation industries between July and September and will announce a mid- to long-term strategy for preventing the spread of SAF.
It's a plan.