Kim Dong-seop, President of Korea National Oil Corporation, stated on the 19th, "(Regarding the East Sea deep-sea gas field project) Even though the business prospectus has not yet been sent, there has already been interest expressed by several well-known global major oil companies, and we plan to hold business briefings sequentially."
At a briefing held at the Government Complex Sejong on the same day, President Kim said, "We will continue to hold business briefings (roadshows) to attract investment from global companies that have expressed interest and possess deep-sea exploration and development technology, operational expertise, and financial capability."
According to the Korea National Oil Corporation, overseas investment attraction proceeds in the order of 'sending business prospectus → confidentiality agreement and expression of interest → business briefing (roadshow) and data review → receipt of participation intention → selection of preferred candidates and contract negotiation.'
The Korea National Oil Corporation began deep-sea exploration in 2005. From 2023 to 2024, a comprehensive evaluation and verification of the East Sea deep-sea area was conducted. President Kim explained, "We evaluated exploration prospects together with overseas deep-sea evaluation experts," adding, "There was verification by domestic and international expert advisory groups as well as additional verification by global major oil companies." The evaluation results of the East Sea deep-sea indicate oil and gas exploration resources ranging from a minimum of 3.5 billion barrels to a maximum of 14 billion barrels.
Going forward, the Korea National Oil Corporation plans to commence the first deep-sea exploration drilling in 2024 and sequentially proceed with exploration drilling of remaining promising structures from 2025.
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