KNOC spuds frontier wildcat, industry heavyweights consider future role

South Korea’s Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) has spudded its high-impact deepwater Blue Whale-1 wildcat in the East Asian nation’s frontier Ulleung basin.

Blue Whale is one of the largest undrilled structures in the basin with a 20% chance of success. Preliminary resource estimates indicate a total potential of 14 billion barrels of oil equivalent, of which approximately 75% is gas.

While KNOC solely is drilling the initial exploration well in the prospective deepwater area, international players could be brought on board for possible further drilling to share the risk and costs.

Industry heavyweights Aramco, Eni, Petronas and ExxonMobil have been suggested as such potential partners, while the operator is working with S&P Global to establish investment attraction strategies.

If commercial reserves are discovered, the government’s current timeline envisages construction commencing in 2027-2028 and production start-up in 2035.

“In the success case, this well could unlock substantial energy resources for South Korea, reducing reliance on energy imports and paving the way for further exploration and development activities in the region,” commented analytics provider Welligence.

Liquefied natural gas imports last year accounted for some 28% of the nation’s power mix although the government has announced plans to reduce that share to 11.1% in 2038, with nuclear energy set to play a greater role.

Preliminary results from the Blue Whale-1 exploration well are expected by mid-2025 at the earliest.

The prospect, which spans Block 8 and the northern part of contiguous Block 6-1 in the deepwater Ulleung basin, is estimated to host the largest resources of seven identified prospects on KNOC’s acreage, reported Business Korea. The prospects — all of which are named after marine creatures — include squid and pollack.

The Blue Whale-1 probe, which is expected to take 40 to 50 days to complete, is being drilled by Seadrill’s drillship West Capella under a $32 million contract, including mobilisation costs of $10 million, for which SLB — formerly Schlumberger — is providing mud logging services.

The operator and the South Korean government’s total costs for the well have been touted at 100 billion won ($68 million at the current exchange rate) by local media.

Before arriving in South Korea, the West Capella was working for Mubadala Energy in the Andaman Sea offshore Indonesia.