SK Innovation Sells North American Shale Oil Fields to Accelerate Decarbonization Goals

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chunhan] SK Innovation announced on the 7th that it will sell its shale oil mining rights and related facilities in the North American region as part of achieving its decarbonization goals and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management.

To operate mining projects in North America, SK Innovation established its subsidiary, SK E&P America, in 2014 and has been purchasing and operating production mining sites in regions such as Oklahoma and Texas in the United States.

The assets subject to this sale include the entire shares and assets of U.S. production mining sites held by SK Plimus and SK Nemaha, subsidiaries of the U.S. corporation.

SK Innovation has decided to sell the business rights and assets held by SK Plimus and SK Nemaha to Benchmark Energy, LLC, a U.S. company.

The two parties signed a sales contract in January and plan to complete all sale procedures within this month. They have agreed not to disclose the sale amount.

Through this sale of North American mining sites, SK Innovation plans to accelerate the achievement of its growth strategy goal, "Green Balance 2030," which aims to completely offset negative environmental impacts by 2030.

An SK Innovation official stated, "While accelerating the portfolio transition to achieve decarbonization goals, we will focus our capabilities on developing existing mining sites in the Southeast Asia region."