HONG KONG (Standard&Poor's) March 26, 2012--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today assigned its 'A' rating to Korea National Oil Corp.'s (KNOC; foreign currency rating A/Stable/--; local currency rating A+/Stable/--) U.S.-dollar denominated proposed senior unsecured bonds to be drawn from its US$6 billion global medium-term note program. The rating is subject to final documentation. In our view, KNOC has a "satisfactory" business risk profile and a "significant" financial risk profile. The satisfactory business risk profile reflects the company's participation in the oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) business, which is growing rapidly, as seen in the recent acquisition of part of the oil and gas assets of El Paso Corp. (BB/Stable/--) in the U.S. However, KNOC's E&P business
