TOP >Activities for
Environment
JAPEX considers environmental issues to be a crucial, fundamental responsibility, and we have been taking various actions to protect the environment. For the promotion of an environmentally friendly resource, natural gas, as our core business, we have been making our best effort to improve the total system from exploration to production and sales. We try to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) and pollutant release and transfer register (PRTR) materials. We also promote R&D to tackle global warming such as CO2 geological storage, GTL, and DME. We adopted the ISO14001 environmental management system (EMS) to our business activities for reducing environmental loads. As for social relations, we are strengthening the partnership with our stakeholders through various activities such as sponsorship for reforestation and participation in local events.
Basic Environmental Principles
The Japex Group is committed to steady supply of oil and natural
gas in safe conditions. We address environmental protection
in regional and global scale through the promotions of a clean
energy source: natural gas.
Environmental Action Guidelines
1. Consideration of the Environment in Our Domestic & International
Business Activities
We alleviate the environmental loads that arise from our business
activities. In order to achieve this, we comply with all applicable
laws and promote continuous improvement of EMS. We work to prevent
pollution, conserve energy & natural resources, recycle,
and reduce waste. We promote efficient development of oil &
gas fields, R&D and introduction of new technologies and
new energy resources that contribute to environmental protection.
2. Contribution to Environmental Protection through Energy Supply
We contribute to environmental protection together with our
customers by promoting environmentally friendly energy resources.
In order to achieve this, we make efforts to enhance the safety
& quality of our products.
3. Strengthening Environmental Partnership
We actively promote environmental activities in full cooperation
with our customers, business partners and local communities.
We function as a community member by raising the environmental
awareness of each individual.
JAPEX has had most of its operational sites ISO 14001 certified
to minimize our environmental loads.
JAPEX’s ISO14001 certified sites:
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We alleviate our environmental loads as specified in ISO 14001
through periodical assessment of environmental aspects by analyzing
input/output, direct/indirect effects, and assessing the frequency
and significance of each aspect.
The business activities of JAPEX are operated under various
regulations such as environmental laws, mining safety laws,
and gas operation laws. We not only fully comply with these
regulations, but try to be proactive in this respect.
For instance, we have reduced a significant amount of PRTR materials
as shown below in the context of PRTR laws.
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Note : The amount includes the data of Japex Offshore Ltd. which is one of the Japex’s subsidiaries.
JAPEX considers the global warming problem as one of our important management responsibilities. We are participating in various research and development projects for environmentally friendly technologies such as the followings:
Gas to Liquids (GTL) is a technology to convert natural gas
to liquid fuel such as kerosene and diesel. Kerosene and diesel
made through GTL technology have recently attracted attention
as fuels with much lower impact to environmental pollution with
no emission of sulfur oxide or suspended particle matter (SPM)
because sulfur and aromatic compounds have been removed through
the process of GTL.
JAPEX has succeeded in a pilot GTL plant (7 bpd) built in our
Yufutsu oil and gas field in Toma-komai City, Hokkaido in conjunction
with Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC)
and several private companies. We are now preparing for the
demonstration size of GTL plant (500 bpd) for establishing a
commercial size plant, as a member of the Nippon GTL Technology
Research Association which has been established for
this purpose.
JAPEX also has participated in a new project to produce Dimethyl
Ether (DME) which is another possibility for a new clean fuel.
⇒further details
Fuel cells are a technology of the 21st century with the potential
of making several contirbutions including the diversification
of energy supplies, the reduction of environmental impact and
increased energy efficiency. JAPEX operates a fuel cell for
electric power generation in its Katakai gas field (Ojiya City
in Niigata Prefecture). Hydrogen for the fuel cell is created
from JAPEX’s produced natural gas. JAPEX has selected the Molten-Carbonate
Fuel Cell (MCFC250 kW) which is expected to perform at high
efficiency and result in a low cost operation.
In addition to the fuel cell, JAPEX has also been working on
other hydrogen related technologies which are expected to be
future energy sources utilizing natural gas.
Global warming caused by emitted greenhouse gasses, such as
carbon dioxide (CO2), is now one of the most serious environmental
problems, and evokes public concern to take effective measures
for its mitigation. According to the international agreement
of the Kyoto Protocol, reduction of CO2 is urgently required
for the developed countries.
Subsurface sequestration, or geological storage of CO2, is the
backbone of the Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS), and
is considered to be one of the most promising technologies to
prevent the global warming. With vast expertise and knowledge
in the field of subsurface exploration, JAPEX can contribute
to the development of technologies for CCS, such as drilling,
reservoir engineering, and geoscientific analyses. JAPEX, under
the joint auspices of RITE (Research Institute of Innovative
Technology for the Earth), has been involved in the Nagaoka
CO2 Injection Pilot Project in Niigata Prefecture to develop
technologies for monitoring the behavior of injected CO2 using
a time-lapse 3D (or 4D) seismic method. We are also participating
in R&D projects for CO2 injection site selections, well
planning, reservoir simulations, stratigraphic analyses, rock
physics experiments, etc. to comprehensively develop the technologies
relevant to CCS.
⇒further details
CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) vehicles contribute to the alleviation
of major causes of air pollution such as NOx and CO.
JAPEX established a company named NGV (Natural Gas Vehicle)
Hokkaido with Hokkaido Gas Company and several other private
companies. JAPEX promotes the wide-spread use of CNG vehicles
by providing natural gas from its Yufutsu oil and gas field.
