韩国政府宣布拟将韩国天然气公社（KOGAS）与韩国石油公社（KNOC）合并为'能源资源公社'，KOGAS当日披露'尚未决定'

Korea Gas Corporation and Korea National Oil Corporation will be combined into a single entity, a move the government says will streamline resource procurement and development. But analysts warn the merged company's financial health could deteriorate as Korea Gas absorbs the oil company's accumulated bad assets. Five power generation companies under KEPCO will be consolidated into one corporation, with three to four regional divisions dedicated primarily to expanding renewable energy generation.
The government announced the plan, titled "Measures to Reform the Functions of Public Institutions," on the 3rd. Korea Gas and Korea National Oil Corporation will be merged into Energy Resources Corporation, a working name. The oil company's stockpiling operations and its limited oil exploration and development functions will be transferred to the new entity, while functions related to improving distribution structures, such as the discount gas station program, will go to the Korea Petroleum Quality & Distribution Authority.
"Almost no advanced economy operates separate state-run oil and gas companies," an official at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said. "In terms of resource development as well, it makes sense for the two organizations to work together." The comment points to potential synergies from combining Korea Gas's international clout and financial capacity — the company directly supplies a substantial share of the liquefied natural gas consumed in Korea — with the oil company's accumulated experience in resource development. The decision to leave the Korea Mine Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corporation intact, after earlier discussions had floated including it in the merger, reflects a judgment that consolidation offers no benefit because extraction and exploration methods for minerals differ sharply from those for oil and gas.
The problem is that the new Energy Resources Corporation could stumble financially from the outset. Korea National Oil Corporation's debt has piled up beyond 20 trillion won, leaving it with negative equity. The Harvest oil field project in Canada, the heaviest drag on its balance sheet, has yet to be fully divested despite an exit strategy drawn up as early as 2021.
Korea Gas is currently generating relatively stable operating profit, but its uncollected receivables still stood at 14.178 trillion won as of the first half of this year. Should global LNG prices swing wildly amid mounting geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East, operating profit could flip to a loss at any time. Successive administrations, beginning with that of Park Geun-hye, made repeated attempts to merge the two companies, but each time the plans were shelved over concerns about financial soundness.
Korea Gas's status as a listed company is another point of contention. "Unlike the power generation companies under KEPCO, Korea Gas has individual shareholders," a government official said. "If it has to take on the oil company's troubled structure as it is, overcoming shareholder resistance will not be easy."
The five power generation companies — Korea South-East Power, Korea Midland Power, Korea Western Power, Korea Southern Power and Korea East-West Power — split off in 2001 on the premise of KEPCO's phased privatization, and now they will be reunited. With KEPCO still holding 100% of their shares, the government concluded that the original goal of improving efficiency through competition has not materialized, and opted instead for economies of scale.
"About 50 billion won a year in research and development spending and roughly 200 billion won a year in renewable energy construction projects are being invested in a fragmented way across the individual generators," a ministry official said. "There is also severe duplication in management and administrative support organizations."
The merged entity will house a renewable energy division dedicated to large-scale projects such as offshore wind, and a just transition division tasked with phasing out coal-fired power. On top of that, three to four regional renewable energy divisions will be established across the country to drive local renewable expansion. The measure takes into account that the five generators' headquarters are currently scattered across Busan, Ulsan, Jinju in Gyeongsangnam-do, Taean in Chungcheongnam-do and Boryeong in Chungcheongnam-do. As competition among local governments to host the headquarters intensified with the merger, the government is creating several substantial divisions and distributing them nationwide.
Separately, Korea Coal Corporation will move ahead with liquidation, given that all of its mines have shut down, the last being the Dogye colliery in Samcheok, Gangwon-do, in June last year. In addition, the Korea Energy Agency, the Korea Energy Foundation and the Korea Energy Information & Culture Agency, which perform similar functions, will be consolidated into the Korea Energy Agency. The National Nakdonggang Institute of Biological Resources and the Honam National Institute of Biological Resources, both under the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, will be absorbed into the National Institute of Ecology.