Kazakh oil exploration may begin

A Korean group led by Korea National Oil Corp. and SK Corp. may start exploring for oil in Kazakhstan in the second half of this year.
The group will be seeking raw materials as prices and competition increase. The group may sign a final agreement to drill for oil in the Zhambyl block in the northern Caspian Sea by mid-year, Jeon Byong-hyuk, a spokesman at state-run Korea National said yesterday in Seoul.
State-run KazMunaiGaz National Co. signed an initial accord with the Korean companies in September, the Kazakh energy ministry said.
Korea, which imports almost all its crude, plans to increase investment in oil and gas sites in Central Asia.
The government wants to reduce dependence on energy from the Middle East, source of 82 percent of Korea’s crude oil and 48 percent of its gas.
The Korean group will be able to secure as much as 50 percent of the oil from the field, Jeon said.
The group has a 27 percent stake in the resource and the option to acquire another 23 percent depending on the oil findings, Jeon said.
The field is estimated to hold oil reserves of more than 1 billion barrels, more than the average 800 million barrels Korea uses in a year, he said.
Korea National has a 35 percent stake in the group, while SK Corp., Korea’s largest oil refiner, has a 25 percent stake, Jeon said.
LG International Corp. has a 20 percent stake in the group, and Samsung Corp. and Daesung Industrial Co. have 10 percent each.