Gas Field Seekers Would Not Give Up

“We dug three kilometers and there was nothing. We explored three strata for gas, but we couldn’t find a gas field. Indian companies who were co-investors gave up, but we could not. We continued the dig under the condition that Daewoo International would bear all investment loss.”

Yang Soo-young (photo), managing director at Daewoo International, was in charge of the gas field exploration. He is still excited when reflecting on the time when he first discovered natural gas at A-1 mining lot in January 2004. It was the first discovery since the company first agreed to mining development with the Myanmar government in 1998.

“We dug 300 m more and found the ‘treasure’ in the fourth stratum. It was the result of the management having faith in the on-site chief,” said Yang.

The name of the gas field that Yang’s team found at the time was “Shwe” or Burmese for gold. Nearby, Daewoo International discovered gas fields named “Shwe Phyu” and “Mya,” Burmese for emerald and platinum, respectively. Yang is Korea’s top natural resources exploration expert. He has a Ph.D. in geophysics and travels around the world in seek of potential mining areas.

He led a domestic gas field development project in the early 1990s when he worked for Korea National Oil Corporation. He named five potential mining areas “Korae 1~5.” A few years later “Korae-5” became Korea’s first gas field, “Donghae-1” with the development of KNOC.

“Although it is a coincidence, strata in the mining area in Myanmar and Donghae-1 are not anticline, where gas is usually found.”

“No matter how accurate you are when exploring, the percentage of discovering a gas field is less than 15. Luck is essential,” Yang said.

In this exploration, the halo effect of former Daewoo Group played an important role. Myanmar government was favorable to the company and suggested a mining lot development project in 1998. This was the result of aggressive local investment by Daewoo. Therefore, the success of Daewoo International was particularly special for Yang, as an employee of Daewoo.

”I felt that I had failed when the company fell. But I seized on the opportunity to be of help to the company. This was possible because I was not fired. Above all, I am pleased that I regained Daewoo’s pride,” Yang said.

larosa@donga.com swon@donga.com