Keeping Korea’s Dream of Becoming Oil Producer Alive
Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) will step up efforts to find additional gas fields in the East Sea off Ulsan, Korea.
KNOC announced on Feb. 4 that it has secured a mining right for deep sea areas of the East Sea from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The mining right covers the central and eastern districts of the 6-1 Block, which is located near the East Sea Gas Field, the first gas field Korea has discovered and developed in the East Sea.
The KNOC has found a deep sea layer in the block which looks similar to a large oil and gas field and named it the "Yellow Tail Structure.”
“We have discovered the structure after two years of careful investigation through a three-dimensional physical exploration. It is expected to be 10 times more resource-rich than the gas field in the East Sea, if exploration is successful,” a KNOC official said. The East Sea gas field produced 50 million cubic feet (1,100 tons) of gas and 1,000 barrels of ultra-light oil in 2018, which is enough to provide fuel to 340,000 households and 20,000 passenger cars.
The East Sea gas field is scheduled to end production in 2022, so the oil company plans to complete the exploration and drilling of the Yellow Tail Structure by next year.