W&T Offshore Inc. recently teamed up with state-owned Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) to pursue potential joint venture (JV) opportunities along the energy value chain in North America.

“We are pleased to announce this strategic agreement with Korea National Oil Corporation that will allow both companies the chance to jointly consider attractive opportunities that can be made even more successful by combining our strengths and working together,” Tracy W. Krohn, chairman and CEO of Houston-based W&T, commented in a company release on May 2.

KNOC is the government-owned national oil and gas company of South Korea and one of the most important energy and industrial companies in Korea, according to the release.

On May 2, W&T announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with KNOC to jointly consider and pursue various opportunities, allowing the companies to leverage their respective strengths and expertise in the evaluation and the future pursuit and development of energy and other projects in North America.

The non-binding MOU allows both parties to collectively explore potential collaboration as it relates to technical and operational aspects of upstream oil and gas and as well as jointly evaluate and consider potential acquisitions and other new business opportunities that both parties agree to be of interest, such as opportunities related to energy transition and the reduction of global carbon emissions.

As of Dec. 31, 2021, W&T had working interests in 43 fields in federal and state waters and has under lease approximately 606,000 gross acres, including approximately 419,000 gross acres on the Gulf of Mexico Shelf and approximately 187,000 gross acres in the Gulf of Mexico deepwater. A majority of the company’s daily production is derived from wells it operates. 

Currently, KNOC is participating in 31 promising oil development projects in 17 countries including five in Korea, the release said.

“KNOC is a well-known and respected company in our industry and it shares our goal of being an industry leader in the future of global energy supply and security. We look forward to working with them for the mutual benefit of our respective shareholders,” Krohn added.

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