INPEX, a major resource development company, announced that it will start exploratory drilling in the Sea of Japan off Shimane and Yamaguchi prefectures to see if it can be commercialized from March.
This is the first exploratory drilling in about 20 years to see if it is on a commercial basis.
INPEX will conduct exploratory surveys in the Sea of Japan, about 150 kilometers north of Yamaguchi Prefecture and about 130 kilometers northwest of Shimane Prefecture.
National surveys have shown that the 240-meter-deep strata in this area contain natural gas and oil reserves.
INPEX will conduct exploratory drilling for about four months from March to see if there is a level of natural gas that will keep commercial production on track.
This is the first exploratory drilling in about 20 years to see if it is on a commercial basis.
The project cost is expected to be approximately 33 billion yen, and JOGMEC "Japan Oil, Gas and Metals and Mineral Resources Organization" will bear half the cost.
According to the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, this gas field has the potential to produce 1.2% of the annual consumption of natural gas in the country in one year.
Natural gas is indispensable for fuel for power plants and city gas, but Japan depends mostly on imports from overseas in the form of LNG = liquefied natural gas, and the development of new gas fields will lead to domestic production. It seems that attention will be focused on whether or not.