Tag: oil

This is probably another reason why the Yoon administration should not have made this possible find of oil of the coast of Korea public because the opposition controlled National Assembly doesn’t want to give them credit:

The government’s ambitious project to excavate oil and gas in the East Sea is expected to face challenges in securing a budget from the National Assembly, according to sources, Sunday.

While the government aims to allocate a budget of 100 billion won ($72.4 million) next year for initial drilling, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is putting on the brakes, first demanding the transparent disclosure of relevant information regarding the project.

According to the government, a budget of 100 billion won is needed for drilling one prospective structure. Its goal is to commence initial exploratory deepwater drilling within the first half of the 2025, following sequential exploratory drilling of the four remaining prospective structures.

For next year, following the usual practice, the government plans to cover approximately 50 percent of the total project cost, or 50 billion won, through the Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC). The remaining 50 percent will be provided as government loans to KNOC.

Korea Times

Here is the reason the opposition is giving:

“The trade ministry and the KNOC have refused to submit key documents, including those related to the appropriateness of Act-Geo’s selection, the bidding process, project feasibility evaluation results, the list of domestic and international advisory panels, meeting minutes and final reports,” the lawmakers said.

They stated that a review of relevant documents submitted by the government is needed before determining the appropriateness of the proposed budget.

The ruling People Power Party refuted the claims, saying the DPK is objecting for political purposes

It is pretty clear that the opposition will keep delaying funding for this oil find just to ensure the Yoon administration doesn’t get credit for it.

The owner of the company that found there is a possibility of a large oil and gas reserve off the coast of Pohang is currently in South Korea meetings:

The owner of the U.S.-based geoscience research company Act-Geo, which took part in South Korea’s project for potential offshore oil and gas reserves, arrived in the nation Wednesday for meetings with government officials.

Vitor Abreu, the owner of the Houston, Texas-based research firm, arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, noting his visit was aimed at following up with the state-run Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) on the potential discovery of up to 14 billion barrels of gas and oil.

“I came here to discuss with the KNOC what’s the best way for us to approach this and actually to give a better or more clear response for the Korean people in this very, very important project,” Abreu told reporters upon his arrival.

Abreu refrained from offering more details on the project, citing a “confidentiality agreement” with the state-run firm.

Yonhap

Here is how the article responded to claims from critics about the creditability of Abreu’s company:

The government commissioned Act-Geo to conduct a study in February last year, which reported that the deposits could hold between 3.5 billion and 14 billion barrels of gas and oil.

Meanwhile, there have been rising questions surrounding the credibility of the firm, with some claiming that the address of the company headquarters was that of a residential house in suburban Houston.

In response, the KNOC said Abreu was a veteran of 30 years in the field of deep-sea exploration and previously served as the head of the geology division at ExxonMobil and the president of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

The company also said that during his days at ExxonMobil, Abreu played a leading role in the exploration of the largest deep-sea oil field in Guyana, South America.

You can read more at the link.

This potential oil and gas reserve off the coast of Pohang would be huge for South Korea’s economy considering how dependent it is on foreign oil imports:

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Monday that a potentially massive oil and gas reserve could be buried off the southeast city of Pohang and drilling will begin later this year to determine whether it is real.

The reserve off Yeongil Bay in Pohang, about 260 kilometers southeast of Seoul, could hold up to 14 billion barrels of oil and gas, an amount that could meet South Korea’s gas demands for 29 years and oil demands for four years, Yoon said.

He cited a geophysical study conducted by an unidentified foreign seismic research company.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It is going to be interesting to see if the Trump administration allows this to happen:

 Iran’s Foreign Ministry called in the South Korean ambassador last month to demand payment of 7 trillion won ($6 billion) for oil it sold to the Asian country, Chosun Ilbo reported, citing officials it didn’t identify.

Iran expressed “strong regret” over Seoul’s failure to complete the payment, which has been deposited at two South Korean banks without being transferred to Iran’s central bank for years due to U.S. sanctions against the Middle Eastern country, the newspaper said. It added that other Iranian authorities including the central bank also complained.

South Korea sent a delegation to the Middle East late last month and explained that the country will cooperate with the U.S. to successfully complete transfer of the payment, it added.

Bloomberg

This just makes me wonder how many other South Korean ships have been violating sanctions that have not been caught yet?:

A South Korean cargo vessel has been impounded in Busan Harbor since last October on suspicions of violating international sanctions on North Korea, a Foreign Ministry official said Tuesday.

This is the first time a ship flying the South Korean flag has been accused of breaking United Nations Security Council sanctions imposed on the North for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. 

According to the official, the ship, named Lunis, was one of four held in South Korean ports since October for having allegedly transferred banned petroleum products or coal to or from North Korean ships. The other three vessels are reportedly registered in Togo, Hong Kong and Panama.

The shipping company working with the South Korean vessel has admitted to a transfer of refined oil to a tanker from the North through a ship-to-ship operation, the official said. 

All four ships, including the Lunis, were among dozens of foreign vessels named in a U.S. Treasury Department report released March 21 for allegedly having engaged in such illicit transfers of oil or coal to or from North Korean vessels.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

"South Korea exported over 300 tons of petroleum products to North Korea in 2018, data obtained by NK News shows, though failed to report the transfers to the 1718 Sanctions Committee as required by UNSC Resolution 2397." @chadocl @nknewsorg https://t.co/9kHBfEww1z

— Jeongmin Kim (@jeongminnkim) January 23, 2019

The Sri Lankan man was arrested for the sky lantern that caused the oil tank fire in Goyang, but what about the personnel at the elementary school that originally lit the sky lanterns?  Shouldn’t they also be partially to blame for lighting sky lanterns that are an obvious fire hazard?:

The man was arrested on Monday.

He told police he lit the lantern out of curiosity after he discovered two lanterns which had landed at the construction site after a ceremony at a nearby elementary school on Saturday. A gust of wind blew the lantern away just after he lit the small fuel cell inside, the man said. He chased it towards the storage station but did not see the lantern land on the grass.

“He regrets his action a lot,” said Jang Jong-ik, the chief detective of the Goyang Police Precinct, who is investigating the case, on a CBS radio program on Wednesday.

According to Jang, the Sri Lankan man has been living in Korea for three years with his younger brother. He makes around 3 million won a month.

Police concluded Monday that the man was aware that the storage facility contained flammable material and arrested him on charges of misdemeanor arson. They requested a detention warrant for him on Monday, but the prosecution dismissed the request on Wednesday, stating there is a “lack of evidence on the cause and effect of the incident.”  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but I think the largest blame should go whoever is responsible for safety at the oil storage facility.  Just imagine the damage North Korean saboteurs could do if a simple sky lantern can do this much damage.

I am glad someone else noticed what I pointed out in regards to lax safety at the oil storage facility that blew up recently in Goyang:

The recent explosion of an oil tank in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province ― and the ensuing fire that consumed 2.6 million liters of gasoline over 17 hours ― has revealed the lack of adequate safety regulations at oil storage sites in the country.

The explosion on Sunday was caused by a sky lantern released by a young Sri Lankan migrant worker, about 300 meters from the oil storage site, police said.

The grass around the storage compound caught fire as the sky lantern, lifted by a burning flame inside, landed there, CCTV footage showed.

As there were no fire detectors installed outside the oil tank, the operators were unaware of the danger until the explosion came 18 minutes later, the police revealed in a briefing Tuesday.

Police suspect the explosion occurred as fire sparks from the grass made contact with oil and natural gas vapors emitted from the tank’s ventilation hatch.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but it seems it should take much more then a fire lantern to blow up a huge oil tank like this.  I try to look at this from the perspective of a North Korean saboteur.  If a sky lantern can do this much damage imagine what a coordinated North Korean sabotage attempt against the nations oil storage infrastructure could do?

Even if this is the cause of the fire, I have to wonder what the safety measures are around these fuel tanks if a “sky lantern” can blow one of these oil tanks up:

The police have arrested a Sri Lankan national in its probe of a recent explosion at a local oil storage facility, police officials said Monday.

The arrest came one day after an explosion at the oil storage facility in Goyang, just north of Seoul, consumed a large storage tank with 2.66 million liters of gasoline, enough to fill 250 tank trucks.

The police said the 27-year-old Sri Lankan is believed to have accidentally caused the fire by releasing a sky lantern in the vicinity of the oil storage facility.

The police believe the sky lantern may have started the fire when it fell on the lawn of the oil storage facility, causing flames that later spread into the ventilation system of the oil tank, causing the explosion.

The 27-year-old is said to be a construction worker currently working at a site near the facility.  [Korea Times]