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West Capella preparing for work at the King Whale prospective structure. (Photo: Korea National Oil Corporation) |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] Exploratory drilling at the "King Whale" prospective structure in the East Sea has revealed some signs of gas, but it has been determined that the field lacks economic viability.
A senior official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy stated in a briefing on Thursday (6th) at the Sejong Government Complex, "We confirmed some signs of gas during the drilling process, but the scale was not significant enough."
He continued, "While it is not economically viable, we were able to confirm an overall favorable petroleum system. The samples and data obtained during this drilling can be effectively used in the follow-up exploration of the remaining six promising structures."
The official added that the overall geological structure (petroleum system), consisting of source rocks and reservoir rocks, was in good condition.
However, further analysis of the detected gas's components is necessary. Depending on the composition, it will determine whether the gas can be utilized as an energy source, or if the King Whale structure itself will not yield oil or gas.
If there is useful gas, it would suggest that the source rocks in the Ulleung Basin have the potential for gas generation.
This project initially gained attention when President Yoon Suk-yeol personally held a press conference, announcing that the possibility of discovering up to 14 billion barrels of oil and gas in the area was extremely high.
In December last year, the government deployed the West Capella drilling vessel to explore the King Whale (promising) structure, located about 40 kilometers off the coast of Pohang, and has been conducting exploration drilling operations ever since.
The West Capella began drilling at a depth of 1,260 meters in the seabed and drilled down to 1,761 meters, collecting over 1,700 samples and related data.
According to analysis by the U.S.-based deep-sea technology evaluation firm Act-Geo, the exploration structure is promising and likely holds oil and gas, but the preliminary analysis concludes that there is no economic viability to proceed with full-scale drilling.
The results of the detailed analysis of the first exploration drilling at King Whale are expected to be announced around May or June. However, as it has been determined that there is a lack of economic viability, the debate over whether to continue the entire project is likely to intensify.
알파경제 Kim Jisun (stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
