Summary: Korea National Oil Corp.

Smaller size oil and gas E&P business than other regional national oil companies. Exposure to the cyclical and volatile oil and gas E&P business. Government's sole oil policy arm. Weakened operating cash flows due to low oil prices. Declining oil and gas E&P investment. Access to low-cost funding as a key government-related entity (GRE) in Korea. Ongoing government financial support. The stable outlook on Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) reflects the outlook on the sovereign ratings on the Republic of Korea (AA-/Stable/A-1+) because we equalize the ratings on both. The equalization of ratings reflects our expectation that there is an almost certain likelihood of the government providing KNOC with extraordinary support if the company were to suffer financial distress. We

...Ongoing government financial support. Outlook: Stable The stable outlook on Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) reflects the outlook on the sovereign ratings on the Republic of Korea (##-/Stable/A-1+) because we equalize the ratings on both. The equalization of ratings reflects our expectation that there is an almost certain likelihood of the government providing KNOC with extraordinary support if the company were to suffer financial distress....

Summary