Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duk-geun announced that the initial exploratory drilling results from the Megaptera prospect of the East Sea deep-sea gas field project did not discover gas in economically viable quantities. However, he emphasized that there is a high possibility of gas in the surrounding 6 promising structures, necessitating additional drilling. Minister Ahn plans to attract investment from overseas oil majors and domestic companies while seeking budget support from the National Assembly to continue the project. He also indicated that the government is considering investing its own budget to minimize the outflow of national wealth.
