KNOC speed up its international projects in order to become a global energy leader
Since its inception in 1979, the government-run oil company, Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC), has been striving to secure stable oil reserves and explore new energy resources both at home and abroad. KNOC announced that it held a ceremony to celebrate its participation in the management of Dana Petroleum at the Mercure Aberdeen Ardoe House Hotel in Aberdeen in the U.K. on January 21. Attending the ceremony were approximately 150 VIPs, including lawmakers Hong Il-pyo and Jeong Tae-geun, members of the Knowledge Economy Committee at the National Assembly, British lawmaker Sir Robert Smith, Kang Young-won, president of KNOC and Graham Stewart, CEO of Dana.
“KNOC will lay the foundation for win-win strategies between Korea and the United Kingdom, such as cooperation in natural resources development and Korean companies’ business in the U.K. through its participation in the management of Dana”, said CEO Kang in the ceremony.
“Thanks to its successful participation in the business of Dana, KNOC has positioned itself as a world-class petroleum company,” lawmaker Hong said.
KNOC has secured approximately 244 million barrels of oil and gas, and extended the area of its oil development project to the North Sea and Africa.
Dana is an Aberdeen-based company in the U.K. with exploring, development and production facilities in the U.K., Norway, the Netherlands, Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, Mauritania, and Ghinea. Dana discovered oil and gas in Egypt as well asand Mauritania last November and December, respectively, shortly after KNOC’s decision to participate in the management of Dana.
KNOC is actively pushing its technological projects both at home and abroad. In November, last year, the company held a ceremony to celebrate the opening of the KNOC Global Technology & Research Center at the Calgary Hyatt Hotel on November 5 in the local time.
The KNOC Global Technology & Research Center will carry out technical reviews of new projects and development plans in order to help KNOC secure more oil resources and produce more crude oil. The center will also nurture its technological human resources by conducting on-the-job training programs. Those trained at the center will be dispatched to overseas mining areas and business departments.
Calgary in Canada is home to many major natural resources companies and is rich in oil development human resources and technological infrastructure. KNOC is planning to secure excellent global oil development human resources, reinforce its research and development competitiveness and nurture excellent engineers and researchers by establishing the center in Calgary. In addition, Calgary is home to Harvest Co., which KNOC took over in 2009. The center can create synergies by combining business operations and research and development activities.
KNOC believes it needs more technological power to compete with global companies amid increasingly intense competition and the expansion of overseas natural resources development projects. KNOC expects that the establishment of the center will significantly help its operations.
KNOC recently held a strategic meeting with the directors of its overseas offices in order to continue to focus on securing natural resources. During the meeting, at which 45 directors and branch managers from 14 countries were present, CEO Kang emphasized that the company aims to accomplish an oil self-development ratio of 13% by enhancing the success of its oil explorations.
In addition, those in attendance discussed ways to realize the ‘Great KNOC 3020’ vision, which was established in accordance with KNOC’s plan to expand in 2008. The vision aims to make it possible for KNOC to produce 300,000 barrels of oil by 2012 and secure two billion barrels of oil reserves by 2012.