Donghae-1 Gas Field Development and Its Application to CCS

Abstract

Through exploration activities by foreign oil companies in the 1970s and independent exploration activities since the 1980s, in July 1998, high-quality gas reservoirs that could be developed commercially were discovered in the Gorae – V structure in Block 6 – 1 of the East Sea Continental Shelf. Accordingly, construction of a production facility and commercial production of gas/condensate began on March 15, 2002, and July 11, 2004, respectively. After 18 years’ production, the gas supply was finally stopped on December 31, 2021; the Donghae – 1 gas field will be used for CO 2 storage in the future. This paper introduces major technical works and analysis for exploration/development/ production in the gas field, which made Korea the 95th-ranked oil-producing country. In addition, efforts for production enhancement and safe operation of production facilities are reviewed. Then, the results of preliminary analysis of the possibility of using CCS (carbon capture and storage) in the field is introduced.