It was reported today by Bloomberg.com news that Japan will spend as much as $77 million U.S. dollars to find oil and natural gas in its continental shelf next year 2008, using the country's first state-owned oil and gas exploration ship, a Japanese government official said.
The oil and gas survey will cover areas along both the Pacific Coast and Sea of Japan, the Japan trade ministry official said on condition of anonymity. A $213 million vessel that conducts three- dimensional seismic surveys will be delivered in the next few months by Norway's Petroleum Geo-Services ASA.
The nation of Japan is accelerating oil and gas drilling at home and overseas to secure long term supplies. The Japanese national budget for natural- resource development may rise 12 percent to $1.5 Billion U.S. dollars in the 2008 year starting April 1. The trade ministry in March announced the discovery of a Pacific field holding 40 trillion cubic feet of frozen natural gas, equivalent to Japan's natural gas demand for about 14 years.
``The private sector just can't afford exploration work in such vast areas surrounding Japan,'' said Shigeyoshi Hasegawa, a spokesman for Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., the country's second-biggest oil and gas explorer. ``The government's survey data would be very beneficial.''
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment