Hyundai Oilbank was the only local petroleum refinery that posted a surplus in the first half of this year, thanks to the company’s efforts to diversify its sources of crude oil.

“We’re focusing on diversifying sources of crude imports by analyzing oil samples from around the world to find cheaper oil products that better fit our refining equipment,” a Hyundai Oilbank official said.

The nation’s smallest refiner reported 11.3 trillion won ($11 billion) in sales and 142 billion won of profit in the first half of the year while other major industry players including GS Caltex and S-Oil posted losses during the same period.

Industry sources indicated that Hyundai Oilbank was able to improve its performance by cutting back its reliance on top suppliers such as Saudi Arabia from where the firm imported 674,000 barrels of crude oil in June. It was down from 1.11 million barrels in January.

According to the Korea National Oil Corporation, Hyundai Oilbank imported a total of 57.5 million barrels of crude oil during the first six months of this year.

The amount of crude oil that Hyundai Oilbank imported was about half the amount that GS Caltex, Korea’s second-largest refiner, imported. Both firms import oil from a total of 12 nations.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)