President Kim Jun of SK Innovation. (Photos: SK Innovation)

SK Innovation is hard at work on its Nemaha crude shale oil project located about an hour’s drive from Oklahoma City. The oil rigs are in operation, which the Korean oil company took over in May.

Director Ahn Hyung-jin in charge of the Oil Rigs Drilling Operation for SK Innovation, said SK Innovation has so far established 120 drilling rigs in the shale oil field, which is about half the size of Seoul.

Asked whether the oil field can withstand a sharp drop in oil prices, he said the oil produced form the rigs already in operation can weather an economic storm even if the oil prices collapse to $10 per barrel. The oil produced with the new drilling rigs will be profitable if the oil prices stay around $40 to $50 per barrel.

He said drilling rigs will also be installed at Plymouth Mining District, located next to Nemaha. The company plans to produce from 20,000 to 30,000 barrels of oil daily from the two oil fields, up from the current 5,700 barrels per day.

The company had to pay a lot of money to learn the lessons to be where it is today. And because of that SK Innovation can afford to expand its oil fields even though oil prices stay low.

SK Innovation’s pumping unit pumps up shale oil at Nemaha Shale Oil Field near Oklahoma City in the State of Oklahoma in the U.S.

SK Innovation took over Plymouth Oil Mining District in 2014 for $360 million, after learning a hard lesson that investments in stakes alone would have limits in generating profits, and on expanding operations.

Tough tests came early to the company. Oil prices fell suddenly to $20 per barrel from $100 per barrel, plunging its oil exploration operation in the red. But the company did not give up, focusing instead on the development of new technologies for crude oil exploration rather than expanding the oil fields.

The hard lessons that SK Innovation had to learn gave strength to its operational strategies, with its takeover of the Namaha Oil Field being one of them. The company paid $450 million for the shale oil field.

SK Innovation made many mistakes being just stakeholders of shale oil companies, but through those mistakes, it survived the ordeals to become the only foreign oil company to own and operate a shale oil field in North America.

The company has set its eyes on the exploration of shale oil fields in China, although the country has yet to find a number of shale oil fields yet, but the potential is great with the Chinese government deeply interested in the shale oil business. South Korean battery manufacturer – SK Innovation – announced a plan to build a new electric car battery manufacturing plant (for lithium-ion cells) in Jackson County, Georgia.

The investment is estimated at $1.67 billion and according to SK Innovation, it will create more than 2,000 jobs. The first phase ($1 billion and more than 1,000 jobs) will begin in early 2019.

“SK Innovation, which is part of SK Group, is making the investment to better compete in the growing global EV battery market. Customers for SK Innovation include Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai-Kia Motors, and this new investment will provide opportunities for SK Innovation to bring its world-class products to additional automakers in the United States.”

“The new plant will be located in Jackson County, Georgia. Construction will occur in two phases, beginning in early 2019. The first phase will invest approximately $1 billion and employ more than 1,000 advanced manufacturing employees, making it the largest scale electric vehicle battery plant in the United States. SK Innovation leadership worked closely with federal, state and local officials to finalize the investment.”

 Kim Jun, CEO of SK Innovation said, “We are excited to bolster our presence in the United States by making this investment in Georgia. SK Innovation is a worldwide leader in the energy industry and this latest investment will allow us to work with the growing automotive industry in the Southeastern United States, ensuring future partnerships for years to come.”