Despite the ongoing Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, the search for deep-sea oil and gas reserves elsewhere continues unabated — off the coasts of Scotland, Greenland, West Africa, Brazil, the Philippines . . . and even Japan.
As it lacks significant known commercially exploitable oil resources of its own, Japan has to look abroad to supply its considerable needs. Right now, indeed, the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) and a host of private firms are involved in explorations the world over.
But this is no new phenomenon. A 1948 report prepared at the headquarters of the Allied Occupation forces noted that Japan's oil deposits are "lean, scattered and geologically complex." That assessment was echoed as recently as 2008 in an updated report by the American Energy Information Administration, which declared: "Japan has virtually no domestic oil or natural gas reserves."