Oil and gas company Inpex said it has been commissioned by Japan’s Agency of Natural Resources and Energy of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to drill one exploratory well for the agency’s “Heisei 26~28 Domestic Offshore Drilling Program in Japan”.
The objective of the drilling project is to determine the presence of hydrocarbon deposits and conduct geological studies, Inpex said in a statement.
The exploratory well will be drilled in a location offshore Yamaguchi and Shimane prefectures where in 2011, the Japanese government conducted a geophysical survey from the seismic survey vessel Shigen as part of its Domestic Oil and Natural Gas Exploration Project, and where Inpex conducted a 3D geophysical survey in 2013 based on the earlier survey.
Inpex plans to drill the exploratory well beginning in May 2016 until August of the same year at a location about 140km north of Yamaguchi Prefecture and approximately 130km northwest of Shimane Prefecture, where the water is 210m deep.