Korea National Oil Corporation's English Subsidiary Discovers Natural Gas in the North Sea

Korea National Oil Corporation's UK subsidiary has discovered gas in the North Sea.

On the 17th, the Oil Corporation announced that its subsidiary in the UK, Dana, which is the operator participating in the 42/27 exploration block, discovered high-quality gas through exploratory drilling at the 'Earn Prospect Structure' and has begun drilling operations to evaluate the resource volume.

Dana acquired a 50% stake in the 42/27 exploration block located in the southern North Sea through an international bid in 2020 and secured independent operating rights.

Based on its oil development technology specialized for the North Sea region, Dana began full-scale exploratory drilling at the Earn Prospect Structure in July and drilled to a final depth of 3,198 meters by the end of September, discovering gas in the target reservoir.

Additionally, after discovering the gas layer, evaluation drilling is underway to accurately assess the resource volume of the Earn structure and to acquire additional data for future block development.

The Earn Prospect Structure, where the gas discovery was successful, is located about 4 km west of the Tolmount Main structure, where Dana is currently producing gas.

The Tolmount Main structure is a key asset that began exploratory drilling in 2011, discovered a gas field with reserves equivalent to 24 million barrels (oil equivalent), and started full-scale production in 2022.

Dana plans to enhance the commercial value of its North Sea assets by establishing the Tolmount Area Hub through integrated development of the Tolmount Main structure, the Tolmount East structure scheduled to start production in the first quarter of 2024, and the Earn structure where the gas layer was recently discovered.

At the time of Dana's acquisition by Korea National Oil Corporation in 2011, it was regarded as the first successful hostile M&A by a domestic public enterprise overseas, but the company faced liquidity crises during periods of low oil prices after the acquisition.

However, each time, it overcame the crises by successfully leading major projects such as the development of the Western Isles oil field and the Tolmount gas field.

Nam Jae-gu, CEO of Dana, said, “Large-scale exploration investments carry high risks and difficulties, but we will continue to strengthen low-cost, low-risk exploration activities based on production hubs like the Earn structure, where we successfully discovered gas, to secure future growth engines.”