By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter
It has been confirmed that a state-run Russian oil firm offered South Korea another joint exploration deal in the Kamchatka Peninsula, following one with a Korean consortium that fell through.
During a recent visit to Russia, executives of the Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) were offered a new deal on the exploration project on the far eastern part of the country in a hopeful sign for Korea's resumption of energy deposits exploration on the western littoral shelf, the KNOC and the Ministry of Knowledge Economy announced Tuesday.
Russian firm Rosneft, however, has purportedly asked the Korean consortium for a decreased share in the project, according to revised Russian regulations on resources exploration and foreign investment.
Under the new regulations, many oil and gas fields in east Siberia were classified "strategic mining area," exploration of which is allowed by the Russian government only in a joint project with Russian state-run companies.
The ministry said it is currently reviewing the offer.
Suspicions still linger over how feasible the project is, as Rosneft has already once failed to extend its license in the area.
Some analysts point out that Rosneft might be not in a position to benefit from the current political situation, as the Russian President Dmitri Medvedev was chairman of Gazprom's board of directors and will be in favor of Gazprom instead of Rosneft.
Aside from the proposal, the KNOC said it is considering legal action against Rosneft over the license failure in their earlier business.
Last month, Rosneft announced it failed to extend the license on the peninsula in a project in collaboration with a Korean consortium.
The consortium, led by the KNOC and composing of companies, including several major refineries, was exploring the peninsula with Rosneft in the form of a joint venture named Kamchatneftegaz (KNG).
Russian authorities turned down the extension late last month due to a delay in the exploration schedule, as the KNG didn't execute the annual share of obligatory work last year.
The West Kamchatka blocks, about two-thirds the size of South Korea, are located on the continental shelf of the Sea of Okhotsk. The area is expected to have oil reserves of 3.7 billion barrels, with the Korean share reaching 1.5 billion barrels in the lucrative project.