Not Only the Blue Whale Shark but Also the Magwi Shark Exists... "Possibility of Additional 5 Billion Barrels Deposits in Donghae"

Actgeo's "Additional Prospectivity Assessment of the Ulleung Basin" Report
Potential for 5.17 Billion Barrels in 14 New Promising Structures

It has been confirmed that a service report estimating more than 5 billion barrels of additional gas and oil reserves in the Ulleung Basin, where the deep-sea gas field development project (Daewanggorae Project) in the East Sea is underway, has been submitted to the Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC).

According to KNOC on the 3rd, Actgeo, a U.S.-based deep-sea technology evaluation specialist company, estimated in the 'Additional Prospectivity Assessment of the Ulleung Basin' service report, prepared as part of the East Sea deep-sea gas field development project (Daewanggorae Project), that up to 5.17 billion barrels of oil and gas are buried in 14 new promising structures around the Ulleung Basin.

The promising structure with the largest estimated resource volume is named 'Magwisang-eo (Goblin shark).' It is projected that up to 1.29 billion barrels of gas and oil are buried in this structure alone.

However, KNOC stated, "It is true that an additional prospectivity assessment service was conducted for the Ulleung Basin in the East Sea as part of the East Sea deep-sea gas field project," but added, "At this stage, the results have not been verified."

KNOC plans to verify the specific reserves and potential through expert consultations and other verification processes based on the service report results in the future.

If it is confirmed that more than 5 billion barrels of oil and gas are buried in the Ulleung Basin area of the East Sea, the total exploration resources of oil and gas in the East Sea will increase from the maximum 14 billion barrels disclosed last year to over 19 billion barrels. The economic value of the additional 5 billion barrels of oil and gas is estimated to reach 700 trillion won.

The government announced last year that the discovery of 14 billion barrels of oil and gas could generate an economic value exceeding 2,000 trillion won.