Ulsan bids to host headquarters of merged energy public firm

Ulsan is actively pursuing the headquarters of a proposed state energy company — tentatively named the Energy Resources Corporation — that would merge Korea National Oil Corporation and Korea Gas Corporation, after the government announced its public institution reform plan Thursday.

Ulsan Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs Shin Min-sik held a press conference at Ulsan City Hall on Friday, welcoming the government's reform plan for energy-sector public institutions as "a policy to optimize the nation's energy," and said Ulsan, which aims to be the "energy industry capital," is best positioned to realize those reform goals.

He cited five pillars of Ulsan's energy credentials: the concentration of energy public enterprises, the concentration of energy resources, the city's status as home to the country's highest level of industrial electricity demand, its readiness for the future energy transition, and the potential to activate the Arctic shipping route for energy transport and international cooperation.

Ulsan is already home to a cluster of energy public institutions — including Korea National Oil Corporation, the Korea Energy Agency, the Korea Energy Economics Institute and Korea East-West Power — as well as strategic oil stockpile bases, energy terminals that store and supply LNG and petroleum products, and nuclear power plants.

Major investment projects are also under way in the city's core industries — shipbuilding, automobiles, refining and petrochemicals — alongside mega-projects such as AI data centers, reinforcing Ulsan's role as a major energy consumer.

As the country's first hydrogen pilot city, Ulsan has built an ecosystem spanning hydrogen production, pipeline distribution, charging infrastructure and industrial use. The city is also conducting demonstration projects including a carbon capture and storage initiative utilizing the Donghae gas field off its coast.

With a concentration of companies manufacturing LNG, LPG and ammonia vessels, Ulsan port is expected to evolve — once the Arctic route becomes active — from a transit hub into a Northeast Asian energy logistics base capable of storing and supplying crude oil, LNG and other energy resources.

"Ulsan is a place that can handle everything — securing energy resources, utilizing them in the refining and petrochemical industries, and transitioning to future energy sources such as hydrogen and ammonia," Shin said. "The merged headquarters of the oil and gas corporations must come to Ulsan."