Oil-linked financial products are generating handsome returns in South Korea thanks to the surging international oil prices.

According to a fund evaluation firm KG Zeroin on Thursday, three of the top five commodity funds over the past month to Tuesday were crude tracking exchange traded funds (ETFs). They delivered an average return of 6.18 percent, almost four times higher than the overall average of 1.58 percent in broader commodity-backed funds. The top two performers were KODEX WTI Crude Oil Futures(H) Samsung WTI Special Asset 1 that offered a 7.02 percent return rate and KODEX WTI Crude Oil Futures(H) Samsung WTI Special Asset Fund 1 that yielded 7 percent return.

On the other hand, inverse ETF products betting on the drop in oil prices posted huge loss rate of more than 7 percent over the same period.

International oil prices have been soaring recently. The benchmark U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for December delivery finished last Friday at $55.64 per barrel, the highest level since 2015. It climbed more than 3 percent on Monday to close at $57.35.

By Hong Jang-won and Choi Mira

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