Hostname: page-component-55f67697df-gmt7q Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-09T12:26:30.839Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Roots of the Japanese Oil Victory in Libya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2025

Michael Penn
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

In February 2000, Japan began the new century on a sour note when it lost its rights to the Khafji oil field in the Saudi-Kuwaiti neutral zone. Japan's Arabian Oil Company had held exploration rights in that zone since 1957, and the loss of such a long-term investment was keenly felt.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 3 , Issue 10 , October 2005 , e10
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2005

References

Notes

1. Precise information on the zones won by Japanese companies in the second round is below. The zone won by Inpex is shared with the French oil company Total.

Zone 2 - 1/2 (Offshore) Nippon Oil Corporation (90%: Operator)

Mitsubishi Corporation (10%)

Zone 40 - 3/4 (Offshore) Japan Petroleum Exploration Company (42%: Operator)

Nippon Oil Corporation (38%)

Mitsubishi Corporation (20%)

Zone 42 - 2,4 (Northeast) Total (60%: Operator) Inpex Corporation (40%)

Zone 81 - 2 (West) Teikoku Oil (73%: Operator) Mitsubishi Corporation (27%)

Zone 82 - 3 (West) Teikoku Oil (73%: Operator) Mitsubishi Corporation (27%)

Zone 176 - 4 (Southwest) Japan Petroleum Exploration Company (100%: Operator)

2. The Nihon Keizai Shinbun of October 4th offered a convenient summary of current Japanese oil projects in the Persian Gulf and North Africa; here combined with information from other sources:

Libya: Six Zones shared by Inpex Corporation, Japan Petroleum Exploration Company, Mitsubishi Corporation, Nippon Oil Corporation, and Teikoku Oil.

Egypt: Four Zones of which two are held by the Arabian Oil Company and two by Teikoku Oil.

Iran: Rights to the massive Azadegan oil field held by Inpex Corporation.

Algeria: One zone held by Teikoku Oil.

Sudan: One zone held by the NGO Systems International Group.

Iraq: Japan Petroleum Exploration Company and the Arabian Oil Company have signed technical cooperation agreements with the Oil Ministry.

3. Website of the “Desert Is Not Silent” art exhibition, including the Tokyo visit of Saif alIslam Qadhafi.