A representative from a U.S. geological firm that participated in an analysis of possible oil and gas deposits in waters off the southeastern city of Pohang, has arrived in South Korea.

Vitor Abreu of the Houston-based company Act-Geo, landed at Incheon International Airport at around 11:10 a.m. Wednesday for a visit, which the Korea National Oil Corporation(KNOC) said comes upon its request.

Upon his arrival, Abreu said he had come to discuss with KNOC the best way to approach the project and give a clearer response to the South Korean people. Such remarks come amid growing suspicion in the country regarding the reliability of the U.S. firm.

While answering "yes," when asked if he believed that the economic value of the potential discovery was high, Abreu refrained from providing any further explanation due to a confidentiality agreement with the Korean firm.

Abreu is set to hold a press conference on Friday to explain the latest assessment on the potential mining area. The press conference comes after his company gave its opinion to KNOC, based on Seoul's deep sea exploration data, that there could be up to 14 billion barrels of oil and gas in the East Sea.