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Press Conference at Government Sejong Complex on the 7th
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Vitor Abreu, Advisor at Actzio, is explaining about the East Sea deep-sea gas field at a press conference held at the Government Sejong Complex on the 7th. (Source: Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy)

Vitor Abreu, advisor at the American consulting firm Act-Geo, which confirmed the possibility of oil and gas deposits in the deep sea of Yeongil Bay, Pohang, Gyeongbuk, stated on the 7th, "The prospects of this project (East Sea deep-sea gas field) are quite high."

At a press conference held at the Government Complex Sejong on the same day, Advisor Abreu said, "All the wells we analyzed have all the elements indicating the presence of oil and gas." Abreu is an expert with 30 years of experience who led deep-sea block evaluations as a geology (stratigraphy) group leader at ExxonMobil. He served as president of the American Association of Sedimentologists and played a leading role in the exploration of the Guyana oil field while working at ExxonMobil.

Earlier, on the 3rd, President Yoon Suk-yeol announced through a national briefing, "Physical survey results show a very high possibility that 14 billion barrels of oil and gas are deposited in the sea off Yeongil Bay, Pohang." The government judges that this amount is more than 300 times the size of the East Sea gas field discovered in 1998, enough for the entire country to use natural gas for up to 29 years and oil for up to 4 years. However, following President Yoon's announcement, questions arose about the feasibility of the East Sea deep-sea gas field project and Act-Geo's analysis, prompting Advisor Abreu to visit Korea on the 5th for this press conference.

First, regarding the exploration success rate, Advisor Abreu explained, "A 20% success rate means that one discovery can be made in five drillings," adding, "Guyana's pre-drilling exploration success rate was around 15-16%, so an estimated 20% success rate is a very favorable and high possibility."

Advisor Abreu refuted some criticisms that Woodside of Australia withdrew because the project was not economically viable. Woodside mentioned Korea as one of the areas withdrawn from in its 2023 semi-annual report, stating, "We eliminated blocks with no future potential while optimizing our exploration portfolio." This led to analyses that Australia's largest oil company concluded there was no prospect in the Yeongil Bay project and withdrew.

In response, Advisor Abreu emphasized, "Woodside had no time to conduct an in-depth analysis of exploration data due to early withdrawal," and added, "Interpreting exploration data requires a combined geophysical and geological approach, and Act-Geo successfully derived promising structures by balancing both."

Advisor Abreu also countered controversies regarding Act-Geo's capabilities, noting that the company's U.S. headquarters is a residence in Houston, Texas, and that it is a small company with very few employees. He said, "Unlike other oil development consulting firms, Act-Geo's business scope is limited to analysis, so it is small in scale. Five deep-sea experts, including myself, collaborate on projects and work remotely from places like Brazil and New Zealand, so an office is unnecessary."

The government plans to attract external investment for the development project of the Yeongil Bay gas and oil field. An official from the Ministry of Industry stated, "Next year, we plan to conduct the first exploration drilling in the deep-sea area and discover additional promising structures in unexplored areas," adding, "In 2025, we will sequentially conduct exploration drilling on remaining promising structures, and considering that large-scale investment and technology are required for deep-sea development, we have decided to attract external investment."