South Korea’s state-run oil company, Korea National Oil Corp, has started a project which will result in CO2 being captured and stored within a depleted gas field in the East Sea.

KNOC has revealed that the company has signed a preliminary front end engineering and design (FEED) contract with Hyundai Engineering & Construction to initiate the carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) demonstration project at the Donghae-1 Gas Field – 58 kms Southeast of Ulsan.

The project, which aims to commercialize CCS, will result in approximately 1.2 million tons of CO2 being injected into the depleted Donghae gas field each year. Project partners estimate that the project will be implemented from 2025 to 2030.

A preliminary feasibility study for the demonstration project will begin at the end of July 2023. The entire project will be overseen jointly by KNOC and Hyundai E&C, starting with the preliminary basic design. Natural gas production commenced at the Donghae-1 gas field in 2004 and concluded on December 31, 2021. The site was first discovered in 1997 and served as South Korea’s only fossil fuel production facility.