We use petroleum every day, but few truly know how crude oil exists in our daily lives.
Easily thought of as just automobile fuel, almost every scene of our lives starts from a single barrel of crude oil—from the gas stove we turn on in the morning to the airplane flying in the sky, the plastic wrapping our ramen bags, and the asphalt we walk on during our commute home.
Crude oil cannot be used as it is. It must go through a process called 'refining' before it finally takes on the forms we know.
When crude oil is boiled inside a giant distillation tower, different substances are separated layer by layer according to temperature, based on the principle that lighter materials rise to the top of the tower and heavier materials settle at the bottom. From this seemingly simple process, the 7 raw materials that constitute our daily lives are born in sequence.
1. LPG — The Flame That Opens the Morning
Separated first at the very top of the distillation tower is LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas). Because it is light enough to be close to a gas, it evaporates the fastest when heat is applied and rises to the top.
The gas stove in an apartment kitchen, the gas cylinders in rural homes where city gas does not reach, and the fuel for some buses and taxis all originate from this LPG.
According to the Korea National Oil Corporation's final statistics for 2024, the expansion of naphtha and LPG consumption increased overall industrial sector consumption by 5.1% year-on-year, positioning LPG as a core raw material not only for household use but also in the industrial and petrochemical sectors.
Considering that the starting point of the flame that cooks rice and boils soup every morning is a single barrel of crude oil coming from the Middle Eastern desert thousands of kilometers away, it is quite a surprising fact when you think about it.
2. Petrol (Gasoline) — Everyday Life on the Road
Separated right below the LPG layer is petrol, upon which most passenger cars running on roads today rely.
According to the domestic petroleum supply and demand final statistics for 2024 published by the Korea National Oil Corporation in June 2025, last year's petrol consumption increased by 5.2% year-on-year, reaching an all-time high. Although the supply of electric vehicles is rapidly increasing, gasoline-powered car registrations still accounted for the largest share on the road, standing at 12.42 million units as of 2024.
This structure—where South Korea's four major refiners (SK Innovation, GS Caltex, S-Oil, and HD Hyundai Oilbank) bring in crude oil from the Middle East and elsewhere, refine it, and supply it to gas stations nationwide—operates without a single day of rest, allowing us to visit a gas station at any time.
3. Naphtha — The Root of Daily Necessities
Naphtha is a somewhat unfamiliar name to the general public, but in the industrial sector, it has long been called the 'rice of the petrochemical industry' as a core raw material for modern industry.
From plastic bottles, plastic bags, and synthetic fibers like polyester to detergents and pharmaceutical raw materials, countless items we hold in our hands every day start from naphtha.
As of 2026, South Korea relies on imports for 45% of its naphtha demand, with the Middle Eastern proportion reaching 77% among them.
Stable naphtha supply has also been the background behind South Korea's growth into the world's 4th largest petrochemical powerhouse, with an annual ethylene production capacity of approximately 12.7 million tons.
While pushing a shopping cart, we rarely think about the fact that the starting point of the daily necessities filling supermarket shelves is entirely crude oil.
4. Kerosene — Fuel That Flies in the Sky
Kerosene is largely divided into two uses: one is heating fuel for rural and mountainous regions where city gas is not supplied, and the other is jet fuel, which supports the modern aviation industry.
Jet fuel is made by refining kerosene one step further. According to the Korea National Oil Corporation's final statistics for 2024, domestic jet fuel consumption last year increased by 13.8% year-on-year.
As the Korea Petroleum Association has also separately stated that South Korea is the world's number one exporter of jet fuel, kerosene and jet fuel are fields of growing importance in South Korea's energy industry.
The fact that the airplanes we board when leaving for overseas can soar, cutting through the open sky, is ultimately thanks to the kerosene separated from a single barrel of crude oil.
5. Diesel — The Force That Moves the Economy
Diesel is a fuel that physically moves our entire economy, ranging from trucks, buses, and ships to agricultural machinery, and is often called the 'blood of industry.'
According to the Korea National Oil Corporation's final statistics for 2024, as the expansion of electric and hydrogen vehicle supplies led to a 4.2% decrease in registered diesel vehicles, transportation diesel consumption also fell by 2.4% year-on-year. However, diesel remains the fuel that practically underpins the nationwide logistics network. The power behind every process—where fresh food is stocked on supermarket shelves, goods produced in factories are transported nationwide, and containers are loaded onto ships at ports—is diesel.
If you think about it, the food that came onto tonight's dinner table was also likely transported from somewhere by a truck running on diesel.
6. Heavy Oil — Exports Crossing the Ocean
Heavy oil, a heavy oil extracted from the lower part of the distillation tower, is mainly used as fuel for large ships and is also utilized for power generation at some power plants in case of emergencies.
According to the Korea National Oil Corporation's final statistics for 2024, South Korea's exports of crude oil and petroleum products last year amounted to $47.9 billion, accounting to 7.0% of the nation's total exports.
Considering that over 99% of South Korea's exports are carried out via ships, the status that heavy oil—which powers those ships—holds in the South Korean economy is by no means light.
Until Samsung Electronics' semiconductors head to the United States, Hyundai Motor's vehicles are unloaded at European ports, and K-food is displayed in stores around the world, the ship fuel that makes that long journey possible is heavy oil.
7. Asphalt — The Ground We Walk and Stand On
Remaining at the very bottom of the distillation tower as the heaviest and most viscous residue is asphalt; although it is the final product of the refining process, it is the raw material that forms the physical foundation of our lives.
The roads we walk and drive on every day, the airport runways where airplanes take off and land, and the wide yard floors of ports are all made of asphalt.
Without asphalt, new roads cannot be paved, damaged roads cannot be restored, and the expansion of infrastructure connecting cities to cities would also halt.
The fact that the very last residue remaining from the crude oil refining process is actually making the ground we walk and stand on with our feet every day well demonstrates how deeply the resource of crude oil reaches into every nook and cranny of our lives.
Conclusion: The World Created by a Single Barrel of Crude Oil
Starting from the gas fire opening the morning, continuing to the car on the commute, the airplane flying in the sky, daily necessities filling the supermarket, trucks carrying food for the dinner table, ships crossing the ocean loaded with export goods, and the road solidly paved beneath our feet—the fact that all of this originates from a single barrel of crude oil is once again astonishing.
According to the Korea National Oil Corporation's final statistics for 2024, South Korea's crude oil import volume last year recorded a historic high of 1.03 billion barrels, with import values alone reaching $11.31 billion, accounting for 17.9% of the nation's total import value. Among these, the proportion of Middle Eastern crude oil reached 71.5%.
According to the Hyundai Research Institute, South Korea's economic crude oil dependency as of 2024 ranked 1st among 37 OECD member countries, compiled at consuming 5.63 barrels per $10,000 of GDP.
Crude oil begins far away in the Middle Eastern desert, but its end is our kitchen, our road, and our sky.
Understanding this long journey—where a single barrel of liquid passes through the distillation tower, divides into 7 forms, and permeates every corner of our lives once again—will be the first step in properly viewing energy.