據海上工程師網2022年1月18日東京報道，日本最大的石油和天然氣勘探公司Inpex將在今年3月至7月在日本西部海域進行海上天然氣勘探鉆井作業，希望能找到天然氣。

Inpex周一在一份聲明中稱，這個鉆探天然氣項目位于山口縣和島根縣附近，如果成功，預計將有助于提高日本的能源自給率。

日本外務省官員周二表示，這將是自1990年日本中部新瀉縣附近的一個天然氣項目投產以來，日本首次進行海上勘探。這個項目由日本石油勘探公司（Japex）運營。  

Inpex一位發言人表示，這將是自1984年至2007年日本北部福島縣近海的一個項目生產天然氣以來，該公司在日本進行的首次海上天然氣勘探作業。  

根據日本內閣去年10月批準的一項基本能源計劃，能源資源貧乏的日本計劃到2040年前將石油和天然氣的自給率(包括日本公司在海外上游項目中持有的股份)從2019年的34.7%提高到60%或更多。

這名官員表示，日本政府自2000年以來對山口縣/島根縣地區進行了一些地球物理勘探和評估，這提高了對該地區天然氣資源的預期。

Inpex拒絕評論此次勘探作業的成本，但官員說，包括分析和評估在未來幾年內，它將花費330億日元(2.88億美元，其中一半將由日本政府支持的日本石油、天然氣和金屬國家公司(JOGMEC)補貼。

這位官員說，如果發現足夠的天然氣儲量和商業化所需的經濟效益得到證實，這個項目預計每年將生產約90萬噸天然氣，并將日本國內天然氣自給率從目前的2.2%提高到3.4%。 (1美元= 114.4800日元)  

李峻 編譯自 海上工程師網

韻文如下：

Inpex to Drill for Gas Offshore Japan

Japan's biggest oil and gas explorer Inpex Corp will conduct exploratory offshore drilling off western Japan from March to July in the hope of finding natural gas, the company and a ministry of industry official said.

The project, off the Yamaguchi and Shimane prefectures, if successful, is expected to help improve the country's energy self-sufficiency rate, Inpex said in a statement on Monday.

It will be the first offshore exploration in Japan since a gas project, off Niigata prefecture in central Japan, operated by Japan Petroleum Exploration, started production in 1990, the ministry official said on Tuesday.

For Inpex, it will be the first offshore gas exploration in Japan since a project off the coast of Fukushima prefecture in northern Japan produced gas between 1984 and 2007, a company spokesperson said.

Under a basic energy plan approved by the cabinet in October, resource-poor Japan aims to raise its rate of self-sufficiency for oil and gas, including stakes held by Japanese companies in overseas upstream projects, to 60% or more by 2040 from 34.7% in 2019.

The government has conducted some geophysical exploration and evaluation on the Yamaguchi/Shimane area since the 2000s, which raised the expectation gas resources are there, the ministry official said.

Inpex declined to comment on the cost of the work but the ministry official said that, including analysis and evaluations over the next few years, it was expected to cost 33 billion yen ($288 million), half of which will be subsidized by the state-backed Japan Oil, Gas and metals National Corp (JOGMEC).

If sufficient quantities of gas and the economics necessary for commercialization are proven, the project is expected to produce about 900,000 tonnes of gas a year and boost Japan's domestic self-sufficiency rate of gas to 3.4% from 2.2% now, the official said. ($1 = 114.4800 yen)