Multiple foreign companies submit bid for Korea's deep-sea gas project: KNOC
A drillship named West Capella conducts a drilling operation in the East Sea to check an oil and gas prospect in the ocean on Dec. 9, 2024. Courtesy of Korea National Oil Corporation
At least two foreign companies have participated in a bid for Korea's deep-sea gas field development project, the Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) said Sunday.
The KNOC issued a bid invitation for the project in March, allowing interested parties to apply for acquisition of up to a 49 percent stake in the project to become a partner of KNOC, which will have a majority stake in the project.
The KNOC said multiple companies submitted a bid for the project, but did not disclose details of the firms, citing the need to "fairly" evaluate the bidders.
The KNOC plans to select a preferred bidder among the applicants after reviewing their proposals through S&P Global.
Meanwhile, the KNOC said it has concluded through an in-depth analysis on data from the first exploratory drilling into one of the seven potential oil and gas reserves in the deep sea off the coast of Yeongil Bay in Pohang, about 270 kilometers southeast of Seoul, that the so-called Blue Whale prospect does not have economic feasibility.
The Blue Whale prospect was found to have a fine geological system of sandstone layers and a cap rock, but no retrievable amount of gas, the company explained.
The KNOC said it does not have a plan to conduct additional exploratory drilling of the prospect but will newly establish a business plan for the deep-sea gas development project after it selects a preferred bidder.