Gas Output From Methane Hydrate Test Tops Canadian Trial Run

TOKYO (Nikkei)--Japan's test production of natural gas from undersea methane hydrate reserves reached roughly nine times what was previously extracted in Canada, the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. said Tuesday.

The Japanese test, conducted off the coasts of Aichi and Mie prefectures, yielded 120,000 cu. meters of gas in six days, according to preliminary data.

Output "far exceeded what we anticipated," Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshimitsu Motegi told a news conference after a cabinet meeting.

Gas production began March 12 and averaged 20,000 cu. meters a day. Five years earlier, a Canadian test on land produced 13,000 cu. meters over five and a half days.

Japan's undersea production had been scheduled to run for two weeks but concluded Monday because of water pump problems and poor weather.

(The Nikkei, March 20 edition)

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