Japan is all set to carry out a production test to draw methane gas from deposits of methane hydrate found offshore along its central coast.
It will be the second such test by the country which mainly meets its energy need through imports.
The production test is the first since the country had made what is considered to be world’s first ever gas extraction four years ago from offshore methane hydrate deposits, Reuters reported.
Official as the Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) told the publication that its targets to begin the private sector commercial extraction of methane hydrates remains by between 2023 to 2027 but reaching that aim is a challenge with several obstacles yet to be solved.
METI Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, Oil and Gas Division Director Yuki Sadamitsu said that the country has allocated a budget of about Yen20bn ($180m) for offshore production experiments.
Sadamitsu said that methane hydrate is "formed from a mixture of methane and water under certain pressure and conditions. Governments including India, Canada, the United States and China are also looking at exploiting hydrate deposits as an alternative source of energy.”
The production tests for methane hydrates will be conducted using two wells for a period of four to five weeks. In 2013, Japan had to halt production at its first well in 2013 within a week of the test owing to problems caused by sand entering into the well.
It has been estimated that at least 40 trillion cubic feet of methane hydrates exists in the Japanese Pacific coast, in the eastern Nankai Trough as per a study. If extracted, the subsequent production of methane hydrates could meet 11 years of gas consumption needs in Japan.
Being the leading importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the world, Japan has been looking to unlock its domestic gas resources especially since the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima plant which has caused a surge in its imports for fossil fuels including coal and LNG.