South Korea's KIGAM opens Canada office to test unconventional oil production technology

South Korea is set to test the commercial viability of its low-carbon unconventional oil production technology in Canada, the world's largest oil sands producer.

The Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) attended the opening ceremony of the Unconventional Oil Project Group's local office in Calgary, Alberta, on Tuesday. There, it reviewed the cooperative framework for international joint demonstration projects and discussed ways to expand technology collaboration with Canadian research institutions and industry partners.

Attendees shared the office's operational plans and the current status of international joint demonstration efforts, and discussed technology cooperation and commercialization strategies. A subsequent technical meeting examined the Alberta Energy Regulator permitting process and future schedule for advancing the ES-SAGD (Expanding Solvent-Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage) demonstration project, and explored ways to ensure its stable execution.

Researchers also plan to visit the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin and the Alberta Core Research Centre to analyze the geological and reservoir characteristics of the Sawn Lake block and finalize field demonstration research plans.

Through these efforts, KIGAM aims to verify the field applicability of core plant technologies developed in South Korea and move forward with full-scale demonstration of production efficiency improvements and produced-water recycling technology.

Establishing the local cooperation hub is expected to serve as a significant opportunity to validate domestically developed unconventional oil production technology at a Canadian field site and expand resource and energy cooperation between the two countries. KIGAM plans to continue strengthening collaboration with Canadian research institutions and companies to support the commercialization of low-carbon unconventional energy production technology and broaden the foundation for South Korean energy technology in global markets.

"Establishing a local cooperation base in Canada is a critical foundation that takes KIGAM's international joint demonstration of unconventional oil production technology to the next level," KIGAM President Kwon Yi-gyun said. "We will continue to expand field verification of core technologies developed in Korea and deepen global cooperation, contributing to the commercialization of eco-friendly energy technology and strengthening the nation's energy technology competitiveness."

Meanwhile, the Unconventional Oil Project Group is led by Sungkyunkwan University as the principal institution and includes KIGAM, the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, the Korea Institute of Energy Research, and other domestic industry, academic and research organizations.