South Korea, which imports almost all of its fuel needs, may seek to develop oil and gas fields in Venezuela to help stabilize its energy supply.
South Korean officials discussed the possibility of joining in a project to develop reserves in the Orinoco Belt with state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, the South Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy said yesterday in an e-mailed statement.
South Korean delegates including Vice Minister for Trade and Energy Lee Jae-hoon visited Venezuela last week.
South Korea is stepping up efforts along with China and Japan to own oil and gas fields as crude prices surge to records.
Oil doubled in the past year, touching a record US$139.89 a barrel last Monday.
Venezuela has the world’s third-largest proven crude-oil reserves.
National oil companies from countries including China, Vietnam and Iran are taking part in Venezuela’s project to quantify and certify reserves in the Orinoco region, which holds so-called heavy oil.
A South Korean consortium led by Korea National Oil Corp may bid to develop two Orinoco areas, Carabobo 1 and 4, the statement said.
Venezuela expects to certify more than 200 billion barrels of crude oil reserves in the Orinoco Magna Reserve project, the country’s energy and oil ministry said in October.
South Korea and Venezuela also agreed to sign a preliminary pact in the second half of this year to cooperate on natural gas extraction and to discuss the need for joint oil reserves, the statement said.
Separately, Posco, Asia’s third-largest steelmaker, may seek to build a 500,000 tonne stainless steel mill in Venezuela.
Posco met with the Venezuelan Deputy Minister of Basic Industries Jesus Paredes to discuss the possible construction of the mill and the two sides will meet again on the project next month, Paredes said in a statement on Saturday.
Posco spokeswoman Ko Min-jin didn’t answer a telephone call yesterday.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS