A worker at an HD Hyundai Oilbank gas station in Seoul refuels a vehicle in this undated file photo. Yonhap
Prosecutors are seeking arrest warrants for two employees of HD Hyundai Oilbank as part of an investigation into allegations that the country's four major refiners colluded to manipulate fuel prices, according to legal sources, Monday.
The sources said the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office requested the warrants for two employees in the company's pricing division over allegations that the four refiners — SK Energy, GS Caltex, S-Oil and HD Hyundai Oilbank — coordinated in advance to raise or freeze prices of fuel and petroleum products sold in the domestic market.
Prosecutors are expected to expand the investigation to other refiners once a court decides whether to approve the arrest warrants for the HD Hyundai Oilbank employees.
The investigation centers on suspicions that the companies took advantage of heightened tensions in the Middle East to keep fuel prices at inflated levels.
