"We Need to Conduct Exploratory Drilling on the Remaining Six Promising Structures"
"China and Japan Are Also Pursuing Oil and Gas Development"
In the early morning of December 30 last year, the West Capella was conducting exploratory drilling operations at the Daewang Whale promising structure located in the sea off Pohang-si, Gyeongbuk. Photo by Yonhap News
The Presidential Office stated on the 7th that the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's assessment that the 'Daewanggorae Project,' a deep-sea oil and gas field development project in the East Sea, lacks economic feasibility "does not mean the entire East Sea deep-sea gas field has failed."
On the same day, a Presidential Office official said, "this provisional result is not a definitive conclusion about Daewanggorae, and exploratory drilling should also be conducted on the remaining six promising structures."
The official explained, "Generally, there are very few cases of success on the first exploratory drilling. In Guyana, it took 14 attempts, and the East Sea gas field succeeded after 11 exploratory drillings over more than 10 years from 1987 to 1998."
He continued, "In particular, the East Sea deep-sea gas field announced this time revealed plans for at least five exploratory drillings and intends to continue exploratory drilling on the remaining promising structures."
The official added, "Major oil companies view the development potential of the East Sea deep-sea gas field highly and are very interested in investing, so it is expected that corporate investment can be attracted within the first half of this year."
However, he noted, "If additional exploration proceeds solely through attracting foreign investment without government budget support, it may proceed under unfavorable conditions for us, raising concerns about losses to national interests."
The official also mentioned, "China (developing oil fields in the Bohai Sea in the West Sea) and Japan (resuming drilling near Daewanggorae in the East Sea) are also mobilizing national capabilities to promote oil and gas development in adjacent waters."
Earlier, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy told reporters at the Government Sejong Complex the day before, "Although some gas indications were tentatively confirmed during the Daewanggorae structure drilling operation, the scale was not significant," and "it was not at a level to secure economic feasibility."
This project was one that President Yoon Suk-yeol had high hopes for, even announcing it directly in a national press conference in June last year. However, with the government mentioning the practical failure of exploratory drilling in less than six months, criticism arose that President Yoon's announcement was premature.
The President's statement that "this is not a failure" through a press release today appears to consider such criticism. Some also evaluate that it is too early to predict the overall project's success since six promising structures remain.
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