Korea National Oil Corporation

{{Short description|South Korean oil company}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Korea National Oil Corporation
한국석유공사 Hanguk Seogyu Gongsa

| type = Public

| foundation = {{start_date_and_age|1979}}

| location = Ulsan, South Korea

| area_served = Canada
China
Indonesia
Kazakhstan
Nigeria
Uzbekistan
Peru
Russia
South Korea
United Kingdom
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen

| key_people = Dong Sub Kim, President and CEO

| num_employees = 1,272 (2012)[http://www.edaily.co.kr/news/econo/newsRead.asp?sub_cd=DA14&newsid=01748246586441064&curtype=read Edaily] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303190903/http://www.edaily.co.kr/news/econo/newsRead.asp?sub_cd=DA14&newsid=01748246586441064&curtype=read |date=2016-03-03 }}, Jun 12, 2008.

| revenue = {{loss}} US$2.51 billion (2019){{Cite web|url=https://www.knoc.co.kr/ENG/sub04/sub04_3_1.jsp|title=Korea National Oil Corporation}}

| industry = Petroleum

| net_income = {{loss}} US$80.3 million (2019)

| assets = {{loss}} US$16.18 billion (2019)

| equity = {{loss}} US$518.4 million (2019)

| products = Oil, gas

| homepage = {{URL|https://www.knoc.co.kr/ENG/main.jsp}}

}}

Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) is the national oil and gas company of South Korea and one of the most important industrial companies in the country.{{Cite web|title=Korea National Oil|url=https://www.forbes.com/companies/korea-national-oil/|access-date=2022-01-09|website=Forbes|language=en}} The company has operated and continues to operate oil and gas fields in Vietnam,{{Cite web|title=StackPath|url=https://www.offshore-mag.com/business-briefs/company-news/article/16791810/korea-launches-operation-offshore-vietnam|access-date=2022-01-09|website=www.offshore-mag.com|date=22 November 2006 }} Peru,{{Cite news|date=2009-02-06|title=UPDATE 2-Colombia and Korea oil firms buy Peru Petro-Tech|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/energy-knoc-petrotech-idUSSEO9429720090206|access-date=2022-01-09}} Indonesia, Nigeria,{{Cite news|date=2009-08-20|title=UPDATE 3-Nigeria court rules for S.Korea firm in oil case|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/nigeria-oil-korea-idUKLK61194520090820|access-date=2022-01-09}} Yemen,{{Cite web|title=Yémen : Total entre dans un nouveau bloc à terre auprès de KNOC|url=https://totalenergies.com/media/news/press-releases/yemen-total-entre-dans-un-nouveau-bloc-terre-aupres-de-knoc|access-date=2022-01-09|website=TotalEnergies.com|language=en}} Kazakhstan,{{Cite news|date=2016-08-05|title=S.Korea's KNOC in talks with Kazakhstan to drop oil field project|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/southkorea-knoc-idUKL3N1AM00O|access-date=2022-01-09}} Russia, China, Canada{{Cite web|title=Korea's $3.9 Billion Oil And Gas Buy|url=https://www.forbes.com/2009/10/22/knoc-harvest-energy-markets-equity-oil.html|access-date=2022-01-09|website=Forbes|language=en}} Venezuela,{{Cite news|last=Asia|first=The Wall Street Journal|date=2009-03-23|title=South Korea, Venezuela sign oil and natural-gas accord|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123775501209107381|access-date=2022-01-09|issn=0099-9660}} the United Kingdom and South Korea.

The company has oil reserves of around {{convert|600|Moilbbl|m3}}[http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/south-korean-oil-company-buys-canadian-producer/ South Korean Oil Company Buys Canadian Producer] and gas reserves of 10 billion m³.

On 26 September 2008, KNOC signed a deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government where KNOC was granted rights to explore and drill on several sites in the Iraqi Kurdistan in exchange for valuable support on a range of infrastructure projects.{{Cite web |url=http://www.krg.org/articles/detail.asp?anr=25748&rnr=&areanr=60&smap=02010000&lngnr=12K0160 |title=Prime Minister Barzani signs historic oil agreements with South Korea |access-date=2008-09-26 |archive-date=2012-02-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211081013/http://www.krg.org/articles/detail.asp?anr=25748&rnr=&areanr=60&smap=02010000&lngnr=12K0160 |url-status=dead }}

In 2009, the company purchased Harvest Operations for US$1.7 billion, along with its subsidiary North Atlantic Refining and its refinery in Come By Chance, Newfoundland and Labrador. It also assumed Harvest's US$2.2 billion in outstanding debt.{{cite web|title=History of the Refinery at Come by Chance|url=http://www.northatlantic.ca/history.asp|publisher=North Atlantic Refining|accessdate=9 August 2010|archive-date=29 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100729020626/http://www.northatlantic.ca/history.asp|url-status=dead}} The US$3.9 billion bid was one of KNOC's largest deals at the time. That same year, the company acquired a 50% stake in privately held Petro-Tech, an oil firm with offshore assets in Peru.{{Cite news|date=2009-02-06|title=Korea National Oil acquires half of Peru Petro-Tech|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/energy-knoc-petrotech-idUSSEO11567320090206|access-date=2022-01-09}}

On 2 July 2010, KNOC confirmed preliminary discussions regarding a US$2.9 billion offer for the entire issued and to-be-issued share capital of Aberdeen-based Dana Petroleum.{{Cite news|date=2010-08-26|title=KNOC comes knocking|newspaper=The Economist|url=https://www.economist.com/business/2010/08/26/knoc-comes-knocking|access-date=2022-01-09|issn=0013-0613}}{{Cite news |date=2010-07-02 |title=Korean oil group in bid for Dana Petroleum |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/10486598 |access-date=2022-04-24}} In September 2010, Dana's management had continued to reject the takeover approach, but 64% of shares had already been bought by KNOC.{{Cite news |date=2010-09-17 |title=Dana Petroleum takeover firm KNOC backs acquisition |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-11348145 |access-date=2022-04-24}}{{Cite news |date=2010-09-09 |title=KNOC stands firm on £1.87bn bid for Dana Petroleum |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-11242557 |access-date=2022-04-24}}{{Cite web |date=2010-09-09 |title=Hostile takeover of Dana Petroleum likely |url=http://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/sep/09/dana-petroleum-hostile-takeover-knoc |access-date=2022-04-24 |website=The Guardian |language=en}} The takeover was official in October 2010, when KNOC secured 90% of Dana Petroleum's shares by going straight to the shareholders. The action led to the resignment of the chairman and three non-executive directors from the board.{{Cite news |date=2010-10-12 |title=Dana Petroleum board members step down after takeover |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-11524315 |access-date=2022-04-24}}