Research Conducted Alongside Drilling
- Kikawa
- What was your first encounter with methane hydrate like?
- Masuda
- After finishing graduate school I was hired by an oil company, but during the training period at an oil production base I made a mistake with a gas dehumidifier and accidentally blocked a natural gas pipeline with hydrate. This firsthand experience of the difficulty of melting hydrate
once it forms was my initial encounter. Later I returned to university and began to study methane hydrate as a natural resource.
- Kikawa
- Considerable attention has been focused on methane hydrate as a next-generation energy source, wouldn’t you say?
- Masuda
- Methane hydrate has been called “fire ice.” It is a solid like ice that contains methane, the main component of natural gas. It exists in the low-temperature, high-pressure geological strata below the sea floor, and a zone has been found around Japan that contains an amount of this resource equivalent to a large oil field. It also has the advantage of emitting a smaller amount of carbon dioxide than petroleum when burned. In the first offshore production test of the MH21 project, in early 2013, gas will be produced from sub-seafloor methane hydrate. This will be the world’s first trial, and by February 2012 a well located in the eastern Nankai Trough will be implemented for the production test.
- Kikawa
- Now, tell me, is it possible for any drilling vessels other than the CHIKYU to perform such a mission?
- Masuda
- Well, it would be difficult to do without a vessel like the CHIKYU, because she can conduct research while drilling. A normal oil-drilling rig doesn’t have enough working space and experimental equipment necessary for scientific research.
