▲ Oh Jong-hoon, Head of SK Energy P&M CIC

Q1. Last year marks the official beginning of SK Energy P&M (Platform & Marketing) CIC’s business as a Company in Company of SK Energy. So what is your resolution for this year?

Based on the challenge spirit and ambition, which are SK’s excellent corporate culture, we need to really execute P&M CIC’s financial story and make tangible results. Especially since it is the second year after the launch of P&M CIC, 2022 is very important for us to make our business’ future growth potential become a reality. Meanwhile, the external situation is not favorable to us at all. Therefore, in this year, I will put in my best effort to bring out significant outcomes under the management value of “Innovation, growth, and completion,” get acknowledged by stakeholders for our high corporate value, and maximize the members’ happiness.

Q2. Despite the pandemic, last year P&M CIC showed active moves in the petroleum and eco-friendly businesses, after its launch. Could you tell us more about what P&M CIC has achieved so far?

Even though we were in a difficult situation, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I believe there were meaningful changes last year when we successfully set the foundation for a strong leap forward. In terms of the existing petroleum business, we enhanced our fundamental earning power and solidified Korea’s number one market leadership. At the same time, we laid the groundwork for a full-fledged drive on our eco-friendly business. In particular, for the eco-friendly business, we pushed ahead with energy solutions, solar energy generation business, hydrogen business, and Total Transportation Service (TTS) and accelerated our shift to the eco-friendly energy platform. I think the greatest efforts of various stakeholders, who teamed up with us, and our staff brought those results. I would like to take this moment to thank everyone for their endeavor.

▲ Oh Jong-hoon, Head of SK Energy P&M CIC

Q3. In the New Year’s message, you emphasized innovation, growth, and completion. Those keywords seem to be on the same page as the direction that P&M CIC needs to advance toward. Could you please explain this in more detail?

Under the keywords “Innovation, growth, and completion,” we would like to push forward with the following three goals.

Firstly, to survive and grow with stability amidst the changes in the management environment, we will reinforce the competitive edge of the petroleum marketing business and innovate its structure. As the refining margin is expected to recover, the competition in the domestic market is getting intensified. Therefore, the petroleum marketing business needs to solidify its base for stable revenue by focusing on the brand market. Through this, we aim to secure the sustainability of the business and firmly establish ourselves as Korea’s number one market leadership.

Secondly, we will make tangible outcomes in P&M CIC’s future growth business, such as the energy solutions, TTS, and Local Delivery Platform (LDP), which were initiated last year. SK gas stations will transform into a “Customer Satisfaction Station” that does more than a “fueling area” where we fill up our tanks.

Lastly, based on the respective business directions of the petroleum marketing and Solution & Platform (S&P), we will design P&M CIC’s future as a whole in a specific manner. Details on how those two businesses would merge at which stage and in which form, and what kind of company it would develop/evolve into will be designed first, and based on that, we will create a specific To-be Image and Growth Pathway. Through this, we would like to customize P&M CIC’s financial story by each need from the 6R* perspective and gain trust from various stakeholders, and, furthermore, focus on securing the necessary resources.

* 6R: PR (Public Relations), IR (Investor Relations), GR (Government Relations), BR (Business Relations), CR (Customer Relations), ER (Employee Relations)

▲ SK Bakmi Gas Station, the First Energy Super Station of SK located in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Q4. You emphasized the tangible outcome from P&M CIC’s future growth business. We’d like to learn more about the status and plan of business model innovation activities

Last year, for the energy solution business, we initiated the installment of fuel cells in SK Bakmi Gas station as a regulatory sandbox demonstration project. We recently opened the first “Energy Super Station” in that gas station, and we are stably operating the facility. The Energy Super Station was carried out as one of the Distributed Energy Invigoration Strategy projects of the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It is an innovative business model based on gas stations where power is generated by installing distributed sources such as solar panels and fuel cells in a gas station and uses that power to charge electric vehicles (EV). This can be considered the first step to converting the existing traditional energy infrastructure to a green energy base. Starting from gas stations in Seoul, we are planning to establish about 3,000 Energy Super Stations and contribute to carbon neutrality and the invigoration of the hydrogen economy.

In terms of the solar energy generation business, last year, in SK gas stations and NeTruck Houses, we installed facilities with a capacity of 3.8MW (megawatts). Also, through the partnership with a leading company in the field, we have secured business capability for the electricity mediation/virtual power plant (VPP). On top of this, as we accelerate SK Energy’s proliferation of network-based solar energy, we will secure a total production capacity of at least 20MW by attracting external power resources and solidify our position as Korea’s leading green energy generation business.

▲ (Left) The solar energy generation facility installed in SK Energy’s NeTruck House at Busan Newport Office / (Right) The solar energy generation facility installed in SK Energy’s NeTruck House at Pyeongtaek Office

The TTS business focused on securing multiple captive clients in corporate-owned taxi service and commercial vehicle business last year. Based on this, we are going to launch actual subscription model programs of great quality, and we plan to push forward with a direct business on the core services after a review.

Along with those, in terms of the Local Delivery Platform (LDP) business, we enhanced the “Homepick” service over the past year and improved its service quality. We also discovered various partners within the commerce delivery market and developed the business model to be specific and detailed. This year, based on this, we are planning to launch the first Micro Fulfillment Center (MFC), an urban distribution center capable of storing and shipping products within the city. This will be in the form of a joint business of a major shipper, Korea’s top logistics company, and P&M CIC

Q5. Recently, the green vehicle market has been rapidly growing in Korea. As the No. 1 petroleum distributor in Korea, how is SK Energy responding to this trend?

The growth of green vehicles is a global trend, and Korea is one of the major countries that is experiencing a rapid increase in the spread of electric vehicles (EVs). It can be considered a “crisis” for the traditional petroleum distribution business, but, from the perspective of taking up a new challenge, this can be a great opportunity for us who had the role of energy infrastructure. To make the best out of this opportunity, we have prepared an organization that can provide a total solution for green energy. I believe such a change is the direction our customers want us to head toward. Also, as I mentioned before, I think it is a pathway to complete the “Customer Satisfaction Station.”

Along with the increase of EV supply, SK Energy is continuously expanding the establishment of infrastructure related to green mobility, such as EVs. Currently, we have secured 51 EV charging stations nationwide, mainly installed in SK gas stations, and are in the progress of securing 53 EV battery chargers. As market demand for infrastructure expansion is increasing in line with the growth of the EV market, we are planning to expand our infrastructure assets actively.

SK is also pushing ahead with the spread of hydrogen energy at the group level. Therefore, in line with the group, we secured 10 hydrogen charging network stations in our key bases in Korea last year. This year, we are planning to secure 7 more stations to prepare for increased future demand in hydrogen led by commercial vehicles and take an advantageous position in the early stages.

▲ SK Energy’s first hydrogen charging station opened in the LPG charging station site located in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

Q6. Lastly, do you have any other message to the stakeholders, SKinno New readers, and SK members.

It is not easy to provide various conveniences to customers by changing every gas station of SK to “Customer Satisfaction Stations.” It has a large scope of subjects to change, such as a paradigm shift of customers and modification of laws and regulations. However, the government, related industries, and local communities have all stepped up and cooperated with us to provide customers with more diverse conveniences. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who has joined in all the while. At the same time, I feel a great responsibility to get this to succeed and contribute to the advancement of society.

If I take a look at what was going on inside the company over the past year, despite a challenging situation, all SK members cared for and supported each other like a “family,” and that has led to a successful launch of P&M CIC. With this solidarity, this year, I would like to make P&M CIC a place where everyone enjoys their work while feeling rewarded with a sense of accomplishment. To make that happen, I will facilitate the congenial work environment by actively communicating with the staff and listen to various ideas to implement them as corporate culture, policies, and programs.

Even though the business environment is expected to be challenging this year as well, if we confront and overcome the adversity by putting challenge spirit, ambition, and entrepreneurship together, I am sure that we can accomplish a successful financial story. I believe it is time for us to join our hands together to create satisfying outcomes in both work and life and maximize happiness. From an external point of view, this will be actualized as the “Customer Satisfaction Station,” the gas station no one has ever seen before. As the president of P&M CIC, I will do my best to make not only P&M CIC but also SK Energy get acknowledged by stakeholders for our high corporate value.