U.S.-based Schlumberger, the world’s leading oil drilling company, will participate in the first exploratory drilling of the massive gas and oil reserves in Yeongil Bay in the East Sea, known as the ‘Blue Whale’ project. Schlumberger will be responsible for recording and analyzing the components of rocks and gas extracted during the drilling process.
Data released on Oct. 20 by Rep. Kim Won-i of the main opposition Democratic Party reveals that the Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) has commissioned Schlumberger to conduct the “mud logging” operation for the initial drilling phase of the Yeongil Bay gas field. After a competitive bidding process involving three companies, Schlumberger secured the contract to oversee this critical aspect of the project.
Mud logging is a critical process in exploratory drilling, designed to assess geological formations by measuring and analyzing the gas content in the drilling mud extracted from potential sites. This involves monitoring and recording the quantity and composition of gas mixed with the mud during drilling. The data gathered through this process helps build a geological model, which can be used to predict oil and gas reserves and estimate future production potential.
In late 2022, Schlumberger also served as a third-party evaluator of exploration results obtained by the Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) and Australian drilling company Woodside for the East Sea deep-sea gas field project. At the time, the opposition party pointed to portions of Schlumberger’s report, asserting that it conveyed a pessimistic outlook on the project, which the government had not disclosed. Schlumberger’s assessment stated that “significant risks exist, and our understanding of the area remains immature.”
The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy responded by acknowledging that “while the report does contain such content, it also highlights that the probability of success remains high and recommends further technical evaluation.” Following this, an additional assessment was conducted by ACT-Geo, a U.S.-based company specializing in deep-sea exploration. ACT-Geo’s evaluation estimated that the area holds at least 3.5 billion barrels of oil.
The upcoming initial exploratory drilling, scheduled for December, is being likened to a “biopsy” in medical terms. This process involves drilling a deep borehole underground and deploying various inspection tools to examine the geological layers where oil and gas are believed to be present. Next month, the drillship West Capella, which will carry out the first borehole drilling, is slated to depart for Korea.
According to KNOC, “By analyzing the data from this exploratory drilling, we will be able to evaluate the oil and gas reserves, their quality, and whether these resources can flow efficiently through the rock.” KNOC added, “This drilling hole will provide critical insights into the oil we anticipate extracting from this structure in the future.”
