On the natural Gas in Japan

Abstract

Natural gas industry in Japan is, at present, in its primitive stage of development. From the standpoint of the fuel problem of the country which lacks in-any dependable petroleum resources, exploration of gas resources, because of its high potentiality in future production, should be intensively carried out.
Gas production is increasing very rapidly in these two or three years especially in Niigata district, where gas is found in the Pleistocene and Uppermost Tertiary formations which form a very broad synclinal basin. The gas occurs with saline water and mainly consists of methane without any higher hydrocarbons.
Total annual production of natural gas of Japan in 1948 amounts to nearly sixty million cubic metres, about one half of which comes from the gas fields of the foregoing type and another from the oil fields.
Natural gas as a motor fuel is far more favourable in efficiency than charcoal or firewood, the Iatters are also widely used in Japan.
Geologically, the natural gas o curs, mainly, in the following formations.
1) The Tertiary formations a) The oil fields b) The gas fields (Niigata, Chiba, Shizuoka, etc.)
2) The Quaternary formations (Hokkaido, Yamagata, Niigata, Suwa, and other alluvial plains in basins.)