President Yoon Suk Yeol announced on March 3 during his first national policy briefing that vast reserves of natural gas sufficient for up to 29 years and oil for up to 4 years have been discovered off the coast of Pohang’s Yeongil Bay.
The estimated oil and gas reserves could reach up to 140 billion barrels. In economic terms, this amounts to approximately $1.4 trillion, five times the market cap of South Korean company Samsung Electronics.
During the briefing at the Yongsan office in Seoul, President Yoon stated, “The results of our physical exploration suggest a high probability of substantial oil and gas reserves off the coast of Pohang’s Yeongil Bay.”
Yoon explained, “In 2023, upon our government’s assumption, we commissioned a deep-sea technology assessment from ACT-GEO, a leading American firm, based on our belief that there was a high probability of additional oil and gas reserves around the East Sea gas field. The recent results suggest a high probability of up to 140 billion barrels of oil and gas reserves, verified by leading research institutions and experts.”
The scale of these reserves surpasses the East Sea gas field discovered in the late 1990s by over 300 times. Yoon emphasized, “We estimate that these reserves could supply our country with natural gas for up to 29 years and oil for up to 4 years. This is more than the 11 billion barrels found in the Guyana field in South America, which is considered this century’s largest oil development project.”
Upon entering the exploration drilling phase, one of the three stages of oil and gas field development, Yoon announced, “I have approved the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s exploration drilling plan for the East Sea deep-sea oil and gas field today.”
Drilling is expected to yield results by the first half of next year after the first drilling operation commences at the end of this year. The drilling would cost approximately $84 million per well and require at least five wells. Yoon added, “The world’s leading energy development companies have already shown interest.”
