S. Korea's one and only oil rig to be put up for sale

By Park Sae-jin Posted : October 27, 2017, 17:27 Updated : October 27, 2017, 17:27

[Courtesy of KNOC]



South Korea's first and only oil rig will be put up for sale, probably for junk, because of the increasing burden of running after it hauled overseas drilling operations for more than three decades.

The state-run Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) said Friday that it has decided to sell the semisubmersible drill ship named "Doo Sung" to a third party instead of donating it to the southern island city of Geoje for public use. Due to berthing charges, KNOC cannot prolong talks with Geoje.

The rig has become a headache because its owner cannot bear rising repair and maintenance costs. KNOC said in March that about 42 billion won (37 million US dollars) would be needed to maintain it in one piece until 2020. The rig is worth about 40 billion won if it was torn down and sold as scrap metal.

Doo Sung, built in 1984, carried out numerous operations at home and abroad, but it has failed to find oil or gas wells with business values around the Korean peninsula. It now symbolizes South Korea's aborted campaign to become an oil-producing country.

The state energy firm has been under fire for wasting taxpayers' money because it spent a lot of money on unsuccessful resource projects abroad. It has pushed for the sale of none-core assets as part of the government-led restructuring of troubled state entities.




 
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