AsianOil: Inpex unveils offshore exploration plans

Japan’s Inpex unveiled plans this week to conduct exploratory drilling for natural gas offshore Western Japan later this year.
According to a January 17 statement, the exploration campaign will be carried out offshore Shimane and Yamaguchi prefectures between March and July. It will be the first exploration project in Japanese waters since a gas project off Niigata prefecture in central Japan, operated by Japan Petroleum Exploration (Japex), started production in 1990, according to a Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) official cited by Reuters.
For Inpex, it will also be the first offshore gas exploration project in several years. The company had been conducting geophysical exploration and evaluation activities in areas offshore Shimane and Fukuoka prefectures, where it expected to establish the presence of oil and gas fields. Based on the results of these activities, Inpex conducted exploratory offshore drilling operations in 2016 as part of the ‘Heisei 26~28 Domestic Offshore Drilling Programme’, which was commissioned by the Agency of Natural Resources and Energy, part of METI.
Inpex has not provided details of the costs involved, but the METI official that spoke to Reuters estimated that, including analysis and evaluations over the next few years, the work was anticipated to cost JPY33bn ($288mn). Half of this would be subsidised by the state-owned Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. (JOGMEC).
The exploration push comes as Japan attempts to improve its energy self-sufficiency for oil and gas to 60% or more by 2040, compared with 34.7% in 2019. The target includes stakes held by Japanese companies in overseas upstream projects.