As the Blue Whale, the first exploration drilling target (a process of drilling into the subsurface to identify oil and gas) in the East Sea deepwater gas field project, ended in failure, ACT-GEO, the U.S. consulting firm that handled geological surveys for the East Sea deepwater gas field project, said, "There is still a lot left to explore." This is the first time ACT-GEO has expressed a view related to the East Sea gas field project since last June, when ACT-GEO adviser Vitor Abreu held a press conference in Korea to address various suspicions.
On the 24th (local time), GeoExPro, a geoscience magazine, shared on social media LinkedIn an analysis of the Blue Whale structure failure under the headline "Exploring young petroleum systems comes with risks." It said exploration drilling was conducted in the East Sea deepwater gas field, but because source rock where oil and gas accumulate was not found, uncertainty remains high.
ACT-GEO's official account commented on the post, "The Ulleung Basin has a variety of prospects and abundant exploration targets across both shallow and deepwater settings. There is still a lot left to explore because subsurface uncertainty remains high."
After Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) said on the 21st that it would halt drilling of the Blue Whale structure, the comment appears to have been made to support a second round of drilling.
The oil corporation said that analysis of samples from the first drilling showed gas saturation in the Blue Whale structure was only 6.3%, far below the expected 50%–70%, and that no "thermogenic gas," formed under heat and pressure, was found. The presence of thermogenic gas would indicate a higher likelihood of large energy resources being buried.
ACT-GEO raised the possibility that up to 14.0 billion barrels (one barrel is 158.9 liters) of oil and gas could be buried in the Yeongilman area of Pohang. Previously, the Australian company Woodside explored the same area but pulled out in 2022. The oil corporation paid a total of $2.95 million (about 4.115 billion won) under a service contract with ACT-GEO.
ACT-GEO faced suspicion that its headquarters address is a private home in Houston, Texas, and that with few employees its substance was unclear. When it signed the contract with the oil corporation, its corporate status was temporarily suspended due to tax arrears. It now mainly operates in geological education and seminars.
Although the Blue Whale structure failed, the East Sea deepwater gas field development project is ongoing. The East Sea deepwater gas field has seven total prospects; exploration of the other six prospects, including Myeongtae and Ojing-eo, will be carried out with foreign investment. Multiple global corporations are said to have participated in the bid for the second drilling project.