AKITA. KAZINFORM Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. said Monday it started commercial production of oil extracted from underground shale formations from April 1, becoming the first to do so in Japan.
The Japanese developer of oil and gas reserves known as JAPEX is currently producing about 35 kiloliters of shale oil per day at the Ayukawa oil and gas field in the northeastern prefecture of Akita and selling it to oil distributors.
The production volume is small compared with the amount of crude oil imported by the resource-scarce country, which exceeds 200 million kiloliters per year. Still, the latest development is expected to help accumulate know-how toward the use of the new type of natural resource, Kyodo reports.
