Briefing at Government Sejong Complex on the 19th
Kim Dong-seop, President of the Korea National Oil Corporation, stated on the 19th that "even before sending the project briefing document for the East Sea deep-sea gas field project, there have been expressions of interest from five well-known global major oil companies."
At a briefing held at the Government Complex Sejong on the same day, President Kim said, "We plan 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 the project briefing document → signing a confidentiality agreement with interested parties → project briefing session (roadshow) and data review → submission of participation intention → selection of preferred candidates and contract negotiation.' Among the five companies, one has reviewed the data after signing the confidentiality agreement, and the remaining four have officially expressed their interest.
President Kim explained, "After selecting the interested companies, we sign confidentiality agreements, explain our results, and if they want to see more data, we open a data room for a certain period to allow them to review the requested parts. Some companies have already expressed interest, while others have some interest but have not officially expressed it yet. We plan to hold a roadshow as soon as possible to enable the maximum number of companies to participate."
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. The evaluation results estimate the oil and gas exploration resource volume to be between a minimum of 3.5 billion barrels and a maximum of 14 billion barrels.
The government and the Korea National Oil Corporation plan to finalize the exact drilling location by July next month and conduct the first exploratory drilling for about four months starting in December this year, investing approximately 100 billion KRW.
President Kim emphasized the necessity of attracting overseas investment for the East Sea deep-sea gas field project. He said, "Risk diversification during exploration work, including drilling, and the need for investment capital make overseas investment necessary. Our national wealth is very important, and we want to maximize it, but while we have been able to do a certain amount with our technology so far, overseas cooperation will be needed going forward."
He also mentioned that the possibility of attracting investment for the first drilling remains open. He said, "Among various methods, we are looking at the fastest option and also considering the option of going alone. There are issues such as license (reassignment), so it is not easy to proceed quickly, but the option of overseas investment attraction is still alive."
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