SK Innovation Co., Ltd. () is an intermediate holding company of SK Group engaged in

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

alternative energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

, and oil exploration. It runs its business through eight major subsidiaries, including SK Energy, SK Geo Centric, SK On, SK , SK Incheon Petrochem, SK Trading International, SK IE Technology SK Earthon and SK E&S.

History

SK Energy was established in 2007 by splitting South Korea's top refiner SK Corporation into an energy operation and holding company. SK Energy handled the energy and chemical businesses, while SK Holdings was in charge of investing in subsidiaries and the life science sector. SK Innovation was created through a restructuring of SK Energy in 2011. The original SK Energy has renamed itself SK Innovation after spinning off its

oil refining An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, Bitumen, asphalt base, ...

lubricants A lubricant (sometimes shortened to lube) is a substance that helps to reduce friction between surfaces in mutual contact, which ultimately reduces the heat generated when the surfaces move. It may also have the function of transmitting forces ...

, and

chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

businesses. In the beginning, SK Innovation has set up three fully-owned units, including SK Energy (a newly founded company operating crude oil refining business), SK Lubricants (now SK ), and SK Global Chemical (now SK Geo Centric). After two years, SK Innovation spun off SK Energy's Incheon refinery complex and oil trading division and launched SK Incheon Petrochem and SK Trading International. On March 31, 2017, SK Innovation said that the

electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...

battery plant it had in China had been closed since January of that year, after "Chinese joint venture partners halted production for no obvious reason." On March 21, 2018, SK Innovation announced the acquisition of U.S. shale oil and gas company Longfellow Nemaha. In 2019, the company decided to spin off its material division and established SK IE Technology. On 1 October in 2021, SK Innovation officially completed the spin-off of its battery business, which is called 'SK On'. In the first half of 2022, SK On is ranked fifth in the world with a market share of 7 per cent according to SNE research. In September 2021, Ford and SK Innovation announced a joint venture to manufacture batteries in the Kentucky/Tennessee region for Ford motor vehicles.

Corporate governance

Subsidiaries

In January 2011, the SK Innovation system was launched, with the oil and chemical businesses spun off. In July 2013, the company restructured into an independent management system, dividing into two business units—E&P (Exploration & Production) and B&I (Batteries and Materials)—and five subsidiaries: SK Energy, SK Global Chemical, SK Lubricants (now SK Enmove), SK Incheon Petrochem, and SK Trading International. On October 1, 2021, the remaining two business units—batteries and oil exploration—were spun off into SK On and SK Earthon, respectively. In January 2024, SK Enthem became the 9th subsidiary of SK Innovation, following its spin-off from SK Energy, handling the import and distribution of crude oil and petroleum products. In November 2024, SK E&S (Energy & Services) was merged to SK Innovation as a CIC (Company in a Company) that brings in LNG value chain from production to distribution and power generation as well as renewable energy services.

Controversies

In 2019, South Korean

electric vehicle battery An electric vehicle battery is a rechargeable battery used to power the electric motors of a battery electric vehicle (BEV) or hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). They are typically lithium-ion batteries that are designed for high power-to-weigh ...

manufacturer

LG Chem LG Chem Ltd. ( Korean: LG화학), often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It was the 9th largest chemical company in the world by sales in 2021. It was first established ...

sued SK Innovation with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) for misappropriation of

trade secrets A trade secret is a form of intellectual property (IP) comprising confidential information that is not generally known or readily ascertainable, derives economic value from its secrecy, and is protected by reasonable efforts to maintain its conf ...

by hiring former employees. LG Chem requested the import ban to the U.S. for SK Innovation's lithium-ion batteries and infrastructure technology from the ITC. The ITC sided with LG Chem and issued a limited 10-year exclusion order prohibiting imports into the United States of some lithium-ion batteries by SK Innovation. In the end, SK Innovation agreed to pay LG Chem $1.8 billion in cash and royalties to avert the import ban.

References

External links