Rep. Chung Woo-taik of the National Assembly Land, 

Infrastructure and Transport Committee

Rep. Chung Woo-taik of the Saenuri Party, who sits on the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, hosted a policy discussion on the tremendous changes in the area of energy resources and the appropriate responses of the Korean economy at the National Assembly Library on June 13.

Rep. Chung said in his opening speech, “Amidst the worsening conditions of conventional energy exploration, global majors are expanding investments into the technology for extracting untapped extra heavy oil, shale gas, and new exploration areas such as the deep seas and the North Pole.” He went on to say that many companies, including the Korea National Oil Corp., are facing an uphill battle with global majors in the development of the non-conventional energy of shale gas.

He predicted that if the world’s major energy companies shift from conventional sources to non-conventional sources, the Middle East’s oil monopoly will likely be transferred to several other countries, including the United States, China, and Russia, setting up a competitive system among suppliers. He added that the United States has seen its gas production rise more than 10 percent due to the development of the non-conventional energy, already accounting for 12 percent of global gas production. 

Rep. Chung said Korea, which is too dependent on foreign countries for energy imports, must establish energy strategies that dovetail with the new energy environment.

He noted that it is significant to work out strategies on how to secure shale gas at the center of the shift in the energy paradigm since the Korean economy has an energy-intensive structure. 

Chung suggested the establishment of an organic cooperative regime among government/public entity, private sector, and academic circles and the implementation of support to cope with tremendous changes in the global energy field.

Saenuri Party Chairman Hwang Woo-yea said in his speech at the event, “Concern has been mounting in Korea and abroad amid high hopes that the unconventional energy segments such as oil sands, extra heavy oil, shale gas, and gas hydrate could contribute to stabilizing crude oil prices by supplementing the conventional energy of petroleum whose disposable reserves are on the decline.” He also said Korea, which is reliant on foreign energy imports, needs to establish new energy strategies in consideration of external and internal conditions following the sudden presence of these unconventional energy resources.

Saenuri Party Floor Leader Choi Kyung-hwan said, “Energy experts understand that the unconventional energy resources are considered not just one of the energy segments, but also a game changer that can shift the weight of the international political arena.

Rep. Chung Woo-taik of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee hosts a policy

 discussion on the tremendous changes in the area of energy resources and the 

appropriate responses of the Korean economy at the National Assembly Library on June 13.

“A rise in non-conventional energy resources will have an impact on reducing the economic risks for Korea with a higher percentage of foreign energy imports by easing future crude oil price fluctuations and uncertainties.” On the other hand, he said, there is worry about the possible delay of industrialization of new and renewable energy resources and the controversy over environmental contamination related to the production of non-conventional energy resources. 

Rep. Kang Chang-il, chairman of the National Assembly Trade, Industry and Energy Committee, said in his congratulatory speech, “The Korean government established strategies to import shale gas, a major unconventional energy resource, and utilize it in 2012 and it plans to import 3.5 million tons of shale gas from the United States yearly starting in 2017.”

He noted that the nation will have to come up with steps to reinvigorate Korean industries and the national economy beyond a focus on its overseas entry and the importation of shale gas. 

Rep. Kang added that Korea needs to take an in-depth look at the unconventional energy resources’ possible impact on Korea’s upstream and downstream industries, to make it available to step up each industry’s competitiveness, and create new jobs as well as to nurture industries related to the non-conventional energy resources.