Choi Sang-mok "Prospect of the Great Whale Project, Judgment After First Drilling"

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Choi Sang-mok said the preliminary feasibility study of the "Great Whale Project," a deep-sea gas field project in the East Sea, is a matter to be judged after the first drilling.

Deputy Prime Minister Choi made the remarks at the National Assembly's Strategy and Finance Committee's parliamentary audit at the Sejong Government Complex today (10th) in response to Democratic Party lawmaker Jin Sung-joon's point that a preliminary feasibility study for the gas field project is needed.

Lawmaker Jin said it costs 118 billion won to drill one blue whale project borehole, and pointed out that drilling two will quickly exceed the preliminary standard of 200 billion won.

In response, Deputy Prime Minister Choi said that in the past, each drilling was divided into separate projects to determine whether or not it was preliminary, adding that follow-up plans should be viewed as separate projects because they are carried out independently according to the first results.

Lawmaker Jin, however, refuted that the Ministry of Economy and Finance violates the preliminary feasibility guidelines, saying that the total project cost is the sum of all the expenses for the project, and all the expenses for resource exploration or resource development consist of the total project cost.