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South Korea east coast energy prospects hold 'excellent possible', advisor states

Oil and gas prospects identified off South Korea's east coast hold great. potential, a creator of the petroleum expedition research study firm. recommending the government stated on Friday.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol revealed on Monday the. discovery of the prospects at the site off the coastal city of. Pohang, which he stated could contain as much as 14 billion. barrels of oil and gas, and authorised drilling to prove up. resources.

The potential customers recognized show great potential ... for. hydrocarbon, stated ACT GEO co-founder and consultant Vitor Abreu,. whose company was contracted by the Korea National Oil Corporation. ( KNOC) to study data from the location.

Hydrocarbons form the basis of crude oil, gas and. other petroleum resources.

The targeted find depends on 2 km (1.2 miles) listed below the. ocean's surface, the energy ministry previously said.

Abreu stated the prospects being surveyed had all the key main. aspects of extremely potential finds and approximated capacity. reserves varied from 3.5 billion to 14 billion barrels of oil. comparable.

The analysis approximated the success rate of finding resources. from drilling at 20%, South Korean officials and Abreu stated,. which was high for such a job however still suggested an 80% opportunity. of failure, he added.

Australia's Woodside Energy, which formerly had. rights to explore the area, stated in 2023 that it had left. several blocks that it no longer considered prospective,. including in South Korea.

KNOC principal adviser Kwak Won-jun said brand-new data and. analysis had considering that appeared, enabling a different. conclusion on the probability of a discovery.

Woodside said on Friday that it was unsuitable to comment. further since it was no longer a participant in the blocks.

MINDFUL OPTIMISM

The government announcement drew cautious optimism in the. nation amongst some professionals however sceptics questioned the decision. to go ahead with drilling, which Yoon said could cost 100. billion won ($ 73.3 million) for each of the wells being drilled.

Yoon said approximately five wells would be drilled starting near. the end of the year in the hope of reaching findings by the. initially half of next year, while other officials said as numerous as. 10 wells may be required.

The prospects are near locations that have actually been extensively. checked out and drilled since the late 1990s, consisting of South. Korea's only practical gas field to date that produced about 45. million barrels equivalent of natural gas and ultra-light crude. oil in between 2004 and 2021, according to KNOC.

South Korea is the world's fourth-largest purchaser of crude and. gas, according to KNOC, and the ninth-largest energy consumer.

(source: Reuters)