The Korean government presented the nation’s ambitious energy project to build a Northeast Asian oil hub in the country at a meeting with Asian energy leaders on Thursday.

The so-called oil-hub Korea project was unveiled by Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Yoon Sang-jick on the second day of the fifth Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable, which kicked off on Wednesday for a three-day run at Hotel Shilla in Seoul.

According to his presentation, Korea in June completed construction of a massive oil tank terminal in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, under the lead of the state-run Korea National Oil Corp.

This was part of a bigger vision to make Korea into a leading petrochemical industrial complex in Northeast Asia, as well as the world’s fourth-largest oil trading country, the United States, the European Union and Singapore.

“Singapore alone will no longer be sufficient to meet all the oil storage and trade needs in Asia,” said a MOTIE official.

“Korea, located between the Southeast Asian region and the North Pole, is an ideal spot (to act as an intermediate oil storage terminal).”

For this purpose, the KNOC-dominated Oilhub Korea Yeosu Corporation has invested some 517 billion won ($477 million) over the past four years.

The government also plans to additionally invest 508.5 billion won in Ulsan, to complete an oil storage facility with a capacity of 18.5 million barrels, according to the official.

Besides the energy project, Yoon said there was a need for a energy demand management initiative in the region.

Speaking for the heavy oil consumer group, he said, “As the world’s energy paradigm is changing fast, we need to discuss issues such as demand management, policy integrity and diversification of energy resources.”

“We hope to reach, through this yearly meeting, a tangible solution to achieve a shared growth of the entire Asian community.”

The fifth Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable took a role as a venue for high-ranking government officials from Asia’s key oil-producing and oil-consuming countries to discuss and coordinate regional energy issues, while expanding regional exchanges and cooperation.

For the first two days of the event, Energy Minister Yoon hosted bilateral ministerial meetings with counterparts from the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Kuwait and other countries to discuss energy cooperation and inter-state trade.

Besides governmental officials, representatives of the international energy-related organizations, including the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the International Energy Agency and the International Energy Forum were present as well.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)