Owner of the Company Behind Claim of Large Oil and Gas Reserve Visits South Korea
The owner of the company that found there is a possibility of a large oil and gas reserve off the coast of Pohang is currently in South Korea meetings:
The owner of the U.S.-based geoscience research company Act-Geo, which took part in South Korea’s project for potential offshore oil and gas reserves, arrived in the nation Wednesday for meetings with government officials.
Vitor Abreu, the owner of the Houston, Texas-based research firm, arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, noting his visit was aimed at following up with the state-run Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) on the potential discovery of up to 14 billion barrels of gas and oil.
“I came here to discuss with the KNOC what’s the best way for us to approach this and actually to give a better or more clear response for the Korean people in this very, very important project,” Abreu told reporters upon his arrival.
Abreu refrained from offering more details on the project, citing a “confidentiality agreement” with the state-run firm.
Yonhap
Here is how the article responded to claims from critics about the creditability of Abreu’s company:
The government commissioned Act-Geo to conduct a study in February last year, which reported that the deposits could hold between 3.5 billion and 14 billion barrels of gas and oil.
Meanwhile, there have been rising questions surrounding the credibility of the firm, with some claiming that the address of the company headquarters was that of a residential house in suburban Houston.
In response, the KNOC said Abreu was a veteran of 30 years in the field of deep-sea exploration and previously served as the head of the geology division at ExxonMobil and the president of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
The company also said that during his days at ExxonMobil, Abreu played a leading role in the exploration of the largest deep-sea oil field in Guyana, South America.
You can read more at the link.
Like clockwork, GI Korea rises to defend the dummy who calls himself the president, who can’t do anything right.
Just because I worked for Samsung a while back, it doesn’t mean I am now a world-class chip designer. That’s a big difference.
Here is his company – it’s a two employee company, that offers consulting and training as its main service.
https://act-geo.com/
If this doesn’t make the red alarm go off, then I don’t know what will.
One drill to see if there is oil will cost Korea $1 billion. They are planning five drills – which will cost Korea $5 billion. Somebody is getting rich at the expense of the Korean taxpayer suckers.
Korea Man, as you explain yourself instead of whining and citing other whiners as your source, you get closer to a legitimate complaint.
On one hand, I am in agreement with you that this needs to be watched closely.
On the other hand, there are certain specialties that don’t require a big staff.
One guy with experience can look at data or train a room full of people without the need for a support staff.
So that is not my red flag.
My red flag is that Korea has been looking for oil for 60 years and they just found it.
I would have to see what is different technically.
But I dont care enough.
There isn’t enough there to make it worth pumping out.
Even if the project started today, Korea will have enough nuclear capacity to run the entire country, including cars, before it starts pumping.
Better to leave it there until it becomes more valuable and technology makes it easier to extract.
@KM, You’re right to ask, who are these people? If you had taken just one more step into looking up these people (both current and former employees) you’d find they tend to have:
PhDs in geology and are active professors at some of the top universities for geology (for industrial purposes).
~1000 to ~2000 followers and 500+ connections on linkedin mostly among industry experts.
Many publications that are highly cited in a fairly niche subject. Heck, one of them is an editor of a top geological journal.
Long careers in both private industry, consulting for various governments, and academia. All with a focus on geological surveying and feasibility studies.
You’re hysteria is causing you to get the facts wrong, but I think you’ve misunderstood what this company does to get fixated on number of employees or supposed expertise. They are consultants, they do not drill, they do not contract the drilling, they do not build anything, they probably don’t even do the surveying/data collection. They are not involved in anything manpower extensive.
The consultant business model is built on using extremely well connected experts (and they do appear very well connected) to help the client navigate something the client has little or no knowledge about. GEO-ACT appears to act as a fixer between the client and a plethora of academics/industry experts.
With how good geological surveying and analytics has become, I think there’s a good chance they are approximately right about the deposits.
I’m skeptical about the economic feasibility though.
I agree with everything that GrayBlack said. These consultants are obviously high qualified and connected in the industry. With that said, I also think the Yoon administration probably should have not publicized this like they did because it just opens them up for attacks from the Korean left and they cannot really respond because it will be many, many years before these oil reserves can be proven.