The government on Friday pressured the local oil and gas industry to further cut petroleum prices as it pushes to pass on the benefit of tumbling global oil prices to consumers but met opposition from industry officials complaining of the high tax rate.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy asked for "cooperation" from industry representatives to encourage gas stations and distributors of liquefied petroleum gas to lower their prices, saying there is room for more cuts.

"It is believed that falling global oil prices are not reflected enough in domestic retail prices in some channels of distribution," Chae Hee-bong, the ministry's energy policy director, said in a meeting with the representatives. "We ask that (the industry's) associations encourage members to slash oil prices so that the general public can benefit from cheaper oil prices."

International oil prices more than halved in January compared to a year ago. Dubai crude tumbled from $104.01 per barrel in January 2014 to $46.60 earlier this week.

Domestic gasoline and diesel have also been going down. The average gas price was 1,861.28 won (US$1.71) per liter in June, but it sank to 1,564.07 won as of Wednesday, according to the latest price chart by the Korea National Oil Corporation. Diesel fell from 1,670.23 won to 1,380.06 won in the same period.

The government-led effort came as South Korea seeks to take advantage of cheaper crude. Officials have emphasized that lower prices will help companies save production cost and give consumers extra money. On Wednesday, Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan pledged to make sure the drop in oil prices is reflected timely in consumer prices to boost spending and investment.

Industry leaders, however, argued price cuts will be limited due to high fuel taxes, whose ratio in petroleum products has risen from 49 percent in January 2014 to 56 percent last month.

"The capacity to reduce the retail margin is limited because of the fixed-rate tax levied on petroleum products," Kim Moon-sik, president of the Korea Oil Station Association, told reporters after the meeting. "Tax and quasi-taxes take a considerable portion of the profits of a gas station. Without tax cuts, it is hard to cut prices more."

When it comes to the pre-tax retail price, more than 90 percent of pumps have lowered prices in accordance with the cheaper wholesale price, Kim said.

Although most retailers have lowered prices over the past months, Chae said prices vary from region to region, or even within the same district, vowing to closely monitor price tags and narrow gaps through competition.

"We will provide various information in a market-friendly way to induce gas stations to reflect the fall in global oil prices in domestic products in a timely manner," Chae said.

A civic watchdog group said it plans to make a list of the cheapest and most expensive gas stations in seven major cities to join efforts to lower prices.

"We will name gas stations charging much higher than other stations in the same region to help consumers spend money more wisely," said Lee Seo-hye, a senior member of the group. (Yonhap)