President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea announced in a Monday morning press briefing that his country has discovered massive reserves of oil and gas.
“Korea has been exploring undersea oil and gas fields since 1966,” Yoon said.
“Our efforts led to the discovery of the 45 million-barrel Donghae gas field in the late 1990s, which was commercially productive until three years ago, in 2021.”
Yoon explained that in February last year, the government commissioned ACT Geo, a U.S. deepwater technology evaluation company, to conduct an in-depth exploration analysis around the Donghae gas field.
“The latest findings suggest a very high potential for up to 14 billion barrels of oil and gas reserves, verified by leading research institutions and experts,” he said.
“This potential reserve is more than 300 times the size of the Donghae gas field discovered in the late 1990s,” Yoon said.
“It is estimated to supply natural gas for up to 29 years and oil for up to four years for the entire country, surpassing the 11 billion barrels of oil in the Guyana field in South America, the largest deep-sea oil development project of this century.”
He said the next phase involves exploratory drilling to confirm the presence and quantity of oil and gas reserves.
Yoon noted that at least five boreholes need to be drilled, each costing over 100 billion won. “Leading global energy companies already showing interest,” Yoon added.
“Today, I approved the exploratory drilling plan for the deepwater gas field in the East Sea with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy,” said Yoon.
“After preliminary preparatory work, the first borehole drilling will commence at the end of this year, and we should have some results by the first half of next year.”
