Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) is the national oil and gas company of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

and one of the most important industrial companies in the country. The company has operated and continues to operate oil and gas fields in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and

. The company has oil reserves of around South Korean Oil Company Buys Canadian Producer
/ref> and gas reserves of 10 billion m³. On 26 September 2008 KNOC signed a deal with the

Kurdistan Regional Government The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ( ku, حکوومەتی هەرێمی کوردستان, ''Hikûmetî Herêmî Kurdistan'') is the official executive body of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq. The cabinet is selected by the m ...

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. In 2009, the company purchased Harvest Operations for US$1.7 billion, along with its subsidiary

North Atlantic Refining North Atlantic Refining Ltd. is a petroleum company based in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. History In August 1994, the Vitol Group purchased the Come By Chance Refinery from Newfoundland Processing Ltd. and the operating company North At ...

and its refinery in Come By Chance, Newfoundland and Labrador. It also assumed Harvest's US$2.2 billion in outstanding debt. 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. 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 Dana Petroleum plc is an oil and gas exploration and production company based in Aberdeen, Scotland. Its activities are focused on the North Sea, Africa and The Middle East. It is a subsidiary of the Korea National Oil Corporation and is a forme ...

. In September 2010, Dana's management had continued to reject the takeover approach, but 64% of shares had already been bought by KNOC. 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.

Notes

External links

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PetronetOpinet
{{Economy of South Korea Oil companies of South Korea Natural gas companies of South Korea National oil and gas companies Energy companies established in 1979 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1979