Japanese firms seek domestic offshore gas

Inpex, backed by Jogmec, is set to start drilling off the coast of Japan in March

Japan’s Inpex, with financial backing from fellow Japanese firm Jogmec, plans to drill for gas in the Sea of Japan from March. The exploratory work will follow previous drilling in the region, which “raised expectations for the location of oil and natural gas resources offshore Shimane and Yamaguchi prefectures”, Inpex says. Officials from Japan’s Ministry for Economy, Trade and Industry—which commissioned the original exploration drilling—have been talking up the potential resource size in the press, while Inpex suggests that, if commercially viable, any finds would “contribute to the improvement of Japan’s energy self-sufficiency rate”. The site is roughly 130km north of the coastal city