S.Korea shifts focus to proven oil, not exploration

South Korea will change tactics in its increasingly urgent quest for overseas energy assets this year, targetting more costly but proven oil reserves after years of pursuing high-stakes exploration acreage.

Seoul, impatient with the five or more years required to bid for rights, drill wells and fund billion-dollar projects, is on the hunt for fields already in production or nearly completed to close the gap with its chief rivals, China and India. said government officials familiar with the strategy.
Although oil markets have knocked prices about one-third below last year’s record-high of $78.40 a barrel, the risks faced by energy import-dependent countries remain high and rising.

“Fast-growing Asian economies are expected to pose a long-term threat to the country’s ambition to become more independent in its oil needs,” said Lee Jae-won, analyst at Tong Yang Investment Bank.

Seoul already maintains government and joint-venture oil inventories as a primary supply buffer, but like its biggest Asian peers it wants to own resources in the event a dire emergency disrupts the efficient operations of the oil market.

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