Early Oil and Gas Exploration Efforts, 1960s-1970s

Continued from:
North Korea’s Exploration for Oil and Gas

The first known organized effort to explore for oil and gas reserves in North Korea occurred during 1965, when North Korea established a “bureau for the management of geological survey for fuel resources” and, with Chinese assistance, conducted initial geophysical surveys and exploratory drilling in the western (Sukchon-gun) and northeastern (Kilchu-gun and Myongchon-gun) sections of the country. Two years later, during 1967, North Korea conducted a joint geological study with Soviet geologists in the Tumen estuary area using drilling equipment acquired from Romania. Neither of these efforts achieved meaningful results.[1]

A number of organizational developments were initiated in support of these early efforts to ensure a future workforce of qualified scientists, technicians and workers. For example, the Coal and Oil Detection Department was among 13 departments created when the Pyongsong University of Coal Industry was established in 1968. Meanwhile, universities in Sariwon and Tanchon created “crude oil detection” departments.[2]

During 1976, a group of North Korean specialists traveled to the Soviet Union to examine an oil platform in the Caspian Sea, learn the basics of offshore drilling operations and acquire associated technology and equipment.[3] Accompanying this, North Korea established two oil and gas exploration organizations: the Taedong-gang Survey Group (for offshore exploration) and the Tumen-gang Survey Group (for onshore exploration). The Taedong-gang Survey Group was originally headquartered on the west coast in Nampo, while the Tumen-gang Survey Group was located in Sukchon-gun.[4] By 1978, the Taedong-gang Survey Group had acquired a “…crude offshore platform…” and begun exploratory drilling operations off “…the west coast in the shallow waters of Korea Bay.”[5] Meanwhile, the State Administrative Council authorized the “Korea Industrial Technology Corporation to engage a Singapore-based consulting firm to put together a complete package of subcontractors for offshore petroleum exploration.” North Korea’s willingness to sign a contract with a foreign oil exploration company is a strong indication of the great importance that Kim Il Sung attached to oil exploitation.[6]

In his report to the 6th Party Congress held in 1980, Kim Il Sung said: “It is necessary to open a clear prospect for production by concentrating efforts on developing oil resources.”[7] Subsequently, during October 1983, North Korea established the General Department for Oil Exploration under the State Administration Council.[8]

Return to last section: Executive Summary
Next section: Nationwide Exploration, 1980s


  1. [1]

    Dong-hyun Lee, “Quest for Crude Oil in the North – Good Luck!” JoongAng Ilbo, August 20, 2001; and Alex Stewart, “Glimmers of hope seen in North Korean basins, markets,” Oil and Gas Journal, January 4, 1999, http://www.ogj.com/articles/print/volume-97/issue-1/in-this-issue/exploration/glimmers-of-hope-seen-in-north-korean-basins-markets.html.

  2. [2]

    Ibid.

  3. [3]

    Yong-chong Yi, “Is North Korea an Oil-Producing Country?” Win, December 1998, pp. 22-28; and “State of North Korea’s Crude Oil Development,” Naewoe T’ongsin, November 6, 1998.

  4. [4]

    Sung-chol Kim, “North Korea Began Crude Oil Development in Mid-1970s,” Chosun Ilbo, June 3, 2001; Chae-sung Yi, Technocrats Who Move North Korea, (Seoul) 1998, pp. 33 and 305-307; “State of North Korea’s Crude Oil Development,” Naewoe T’ongsin, November 6, 1998; and Yu-chol Nam, “Pyongyang Pushing Oil Field Development,” Sisa Journal, May 20, 1993, pp. 56-58. One source suggest that the Taedong-gang Survey Group may have been established in 1968.

  5. [5]

    Dong-hyun Lee, “Quest for Crude Oil in the North—Good Luck!” JoongAng Ilbo, August 20, 2001; and Yong-chong Yi, “Is North Korea an Oil-Producing Country?” Win, December 1998, pp. 22-28.

  6. [6]

    Central Intelligence Agency. North Korea: Energy Scene, July 1987, Declassified.

  7. [7]

    Sung-u Yu, “DPRK Intent to Explore Oil Fields Examined,” Hankook Ilbo, May 29, 1995, p. 21.

  8. [8]

    This entity is sometimes identified as a “bureau” rather than a department. Yong-chong Yi, “Is North Korea an Oil-Producing Country?” Win, December 1998, pp. 22-28; and “State of North Korea’s Crude Oil Development,” Naewoe T’ongsin, November 6, 1998.


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