South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol endorsed drilling off the east coast to explore a reserve characterized as “potentially huge” with crude oil and natural gas. The area could contain 14 billion barrels of oil and gas, the president said at a news conference. South Korea is one of the world’s largest importers of oil and gas.
Drilling area will be off the coast of the industrial port city of Pohang, in the southeast, and exploration prospects are in South Korea’s Exclusive Economic Zone, local officials said. Yoon noted that the reserve’s potential was reviewed by industry groups and experts.
The reserve would be located in Yeongil Bay, in the town of Pohang, 260 kilometers southeast of Seoul. Yoon explained that the Government gathered evidence in February last year about the possible presence of hydrocarbons in this area of the East Sea. Therefore, he requested a study from a foreign company specialized in geophysical studies in deep waters.
South Korea expects to start drilling later this year and find resources in the middle of the next. Commercial production is planned for 2035 for the exploratory prospects, which are estimated to contain a greater proportion of natural gas.
According to President Yoon, if confirmed and production is made viable, it would cover national gas consumption. for 29 years and oil for four. The project will require an investment estimated at more than 500 billion won, about $363 million.
South Korea imports almost all the fossil fuels it consumes, so national oil and gas production could be key to meeting part of the demand. The country is the world’s fourth-largest importer, according to the Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC). South Korea is also the world’s ninth largest energy consumer.
The country aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, for which it would depend more on nuclear energy generation instead of renewable energy, as planned. They project nuclear energy to account for almost a third of their electricity generation capacity by 2030, while renewables will cover 21.6% of the total.
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