Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) President Suh Moon-kyu

Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) President Suh Moon-kyu said, “With KNOC facing a number internal and external challenges, now is no time to rest on our laurels. The issues we face are complex and diverse. It is time to gather our knowledge and strength once more to overcome them.” Suh made the remarks at a speech at a ceremony to mark the 36th anniversary of KNOC’s establishment on March 5.

“There have been moments of glory and moments of hardship as we have come to this point. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the achievements of our predecessors and all the coworkers who have built our institution through their courage and frontier spirit over the past 36 years,” Suh said. 

“Let’s come together with a renewed spirit and mind to overcome the hardships coming for low oil prices,” President Suh added. “Through successful exploratory drilling at home and abroad this year, early development of blocks, successful completion of the Northeast Asia Oil Hub project, and a global integrated management system, we can move toward the next stage of growth as a global recognized business in this oil city of Ulsan.”

KNOC has finalized a 36-year, three-stage strategic oil stockpiling plan, which was initialized to prepare for a potential oil crisis. Currently, KNOC has stockpiled 146 million barrels of oil and is pursing joint stockpile programs, heralding the era of “economical stockpiling,” he said.

In oil development, KNOC developed the Donghae-1 gas field on its own in 2004, propelling Korea into the ranks of oil producing countries, making it the 95th oil producing country in the world. 

“So far we have found 1.3 billion barrels and are producing 214,000 barrels of oil daily, putting us on the list of the world’s top 70 oil companies, Suh said.

“One of the immediate tasks facing us is strengthening our financial soundness to prepare for long-term low oil prices.” He added. “A ‘Contingency Task Force’ has been formed to prepare for liquidity tasks, and all members are doing their best to cut operation costs and reduce administrative expenditure and budgets.

“At the same time as we reduce costs, we also need to optimize operations for oil blocks, stockpiling bases and drilling ships. Increased efforts for restructuring and business innovation will also be needed. Finding new sources of growth through successful exploration will be a key over the long-term perspective,” he said.

“To promote sustainable growth, we need to enhance competitiveness with competitive technology and improved business operations. In this ‘era of uncertainty,’ gating the upper hand through greater adaptability and flexibility is a must,” Suh said. 

He added: “In addition, we should continue to increase the level of responsiveness for a crisis and contribute to the public’s convenience through ongoing projects like the Northeast Asia Oil hub Ulsan port, construction of the underground storage cavern at the Ulsan base and the 4th stockpiling plan.

“We need to supplement our globally integrated management system focusing on onsite management,” KNOC President Suh said. “Results at the site will determine KNOC’s global performance. HQ will map out onsite operation support system to enhance onsite performances and will take preemptive action to find obstacles and problems as the site and solve them, rather than tackling issues and problems afterwards.”

KNOC’s new headquarters in Ulsan. (Photos:KNOC)