State-run Korea National Oil Corp. has purchased a 23.67 percent stake in a U.S. oil field from Anadarko Petroleum Corp. for US$1.55 billion, the government said Monday.   The shale oil field in the Maverick Basin region in Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border is estimated to hold 491 million barrels of oil equivalent, said the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, adding that KNOC will secure 116 million B

Korea’s state-run Korea Gas Corp. said Monday that it has developed a design technology for the world’s largest liquefied natural gas tank. The tank has a storage capacity of 270,000 kiloliters, up 35 percent compared with that of the largest existing tank, helping reduce the construction cost per LNG tank by 23.5 billion won ($20.9 million), KOGAS said in a statement. The company said it is consi

With President Lee Myung-bak’s appointment of a new government financial regulator earlier this year, reform is once again a serious topic in Korea’s one-step-forward, two-steps-back financial services industry.“The most revolutionary area (of reform) will be the introduction of hedge funds,” said Ernst J. Lee, spokesperson for the Financial Services Commission, echoing recent pronouncements by hi

Korea needs to engineer the local currency’s ascent against the U.S. dollar rather than raise interest rates to contain inflation more effectively, experts said Monday.The government, however, remains opposed to the idea, saying the currency issue should be approached in a broader context as it could have far-reaching ramifications over the overall economy.The argument comes as Korea’s inflation l

Hyundai Motor Co., Korea’s largest automaker, saw a great boost to its sales in China last month, becoming the third best-selling brand in the world’s largest market for automobiles, company officials said Monday.The company sold 50,717 vehicles in China last month, up 36.7 percent from the same period last year.The figure represents a near 30 percent drop from a month earlier when the company sol

The Korean unit of General Motors said Monday it would reduce production this week by up to 10 percent because of a possible lack of parts from Japan following the devastating earthquake.GM Korea ― formerly GM Daewoo ― said it would stop four hours a day of overtime work from Monday at its plants in the western city of Bupyeong and in the southwestern port of Gunsan.The company said it would also

Managers at Hansalim, Korea’s biggest cooperative of consumers, recently realized the depth of the food scare when they took a look at the surging number of their cooperative’s members. Established in 1986, Hansalim saw its membership swell by nearly 20 percent to 250,900 in January from a year ago, just by word of mouth. It spends almost nothing on public relations.The sharp increase in membershi

Prices of liquid crystal display panels have been falling since a devastating earthquake hit Japan earlier this month, industry data showed Monday, beating market forecasts that prices would trend higher on an undersupply.According to market research firm DisplaySearch, prices of LCD panels for 46-inch TVs came to $330 and those for 40 and 42-inch TVs stood at $234 as of Saturday, down about $4-14

SEOUL (AFP) - The South Korean unit of General Motors said Monday it would reduce production this week by up to 10 percent because of a possible lack of parts from Japan following the devastating earthquake.GM Korea -- formerly GM Daewoo -- said it would stop four hours a day of overtime work from Monday at its plants in the western city of Bupyeong and in the southwestern port of Gunsan.The compa