[News Inside Companies] 'Actgeo' Analyzes Petroleum and Gas Reserves in Donghae

Company Founded by Former ExxonMobil Exploration Expert

On the 3rd, President Yoon Suk-yeol officially announced a drilling plan to confirm oil and gas reserves in the waters off Yeongilman, Pohang, drawing increasing attention to the overseas resource development company 'ACT-GEO' that analyzed the potential.

ACT-GEO is a deep-sea exploration and evaluation consulting firm established in 2017 in Houston, USA. According to the company's website, it provides consulting and educational services in the field of geosciences to oil and gas companies, government agencies, and universities worldwide. It has supported exploration projects not only in South Korea but also in Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Brazil, and other countries.

ACT-GEO logo

In particular, ACT-GEO’s founder, Dr. Vitor Abreu, is regarded as a global authority on deep-sea exploration, having worked at Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras and served as the head of the geology group at ExxonMobil. He currently serves as the president of the Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM) in the United States and as an adjunct professor at Rice University. During his tenure at ExxonMobil, he participated in the development of the Guyana oil field in South America, which is considered the largest deepwater oil field of the 21st century, with estimated reserves of approximately 11 billion barrels. Last year, Dr. Abreu co-founded a company called FLUXUS OGE (Fluxus Oil, Gas & Energy), where he serves as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He also acts as an advisory consultant for ACT-GEO. Other ACT-GEO staff members are known to be professionals with extensive deepwater evaluation experience, many coming from global major oil companies.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy stated, "Dr. Abreu directly participated in the development of the Guyana field, the largest oil field of the current era, while at ExxonMobil. Although ACT-GEO has a small workforce, its CEO has extensive deepwater evaluation experience, and the company was selected as an evaluation firm through a bidding process conducted by the Korea National Oil Corporation." The ministry explained that physical exploration is conducted directly by the Korea National Oil Corporation, while ACT-GEO is responsible for interpreting the data.

However, separate from ACT-GEO, experts caution that the figures from the physical exploration phase should be regarded as estimates. ACT-GEO released an evaluation at the end of last year suggesting that there could be between 3.5 billion and 14 billion barrels of oil and gas reserves off the coast of Pohang. This is based solely on ACT-GEO’s analysis of geological surveys and physical exploration data (including seismic, gravity, and magnetic surveys) conducted by the South Korean government over the past 15 years. Oil development typically proceeds through stages such as physical exploration, drilling, development, and production. Physical exploration, one of the initial stages, uses waves to indirectly estimate underground oil structures, so actual drilling must be conducted to confirm proven reserves. Especially in the East Sea, exploration is extremely challenging due to deep water depths, and at least five drilling wells, each costing over 100 billion won and exceeding 1 km in depth, must be drilled.

The maximum estimated reserves of oil and gas in the East Sea (14 billion barrels) are more than 300 times the size of the East Sea gas field discovered in the late 1990s, representing a massive amount that could supply natural gas for up to 29 years and oil for up to 4 years if used nationwide. According to government estimates, one-quarter of the reserves are oil, and three-quarters are gas. South Korea discovered the East Sea gas field with reserves of 45 million barrels in the late 1990s and completed commercial production by 2021, three years ago. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy expects construction to begin around 2027?2028, with commercial development starting around 2035.