Japan extracts methane hydrate from seabed in world's

Japan on Tuesday successfully extracted natural gas from seabed methane hydrate in the world's first such tests, the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry announced. A government research team led by Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology began production of natural gas from frozen methane hydrate under the seabed about 80 kilometers off Japan's central coast, the ministry said, adding that the gas lies 300 meters below the seafloor at a depth of about 1,000 meters. It marked the world's first extraction of natural gas from methane hydrate deposits below the seabed.  Methane hydrate is a type of natural gas formed from methane and water, and the joint experiments would pave the way for Japan to utilize undersea methane hydrate deposits. "I hope we will be able to use deposits of natural resources in waters surrounding our country at the earliest," Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters. Methane hydrate deposits in waters around Japan could meet Japan's gas requirements for 100 years, according to JOGMEC. The government aims to start commercial production within 5 years. Japan, the world's third-biggest energy user after the US and China, is keen to secure domestic energy resources as it faces rising imported fuel costs. Currently, only two of the nation's 50 workable nuclear reactors are online in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident.