The is the collective name for an
oil extraction zone distributed in the southeastern hills of
Akiha-ku, Niigata,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
(formerly the city of
Niitsu
was a city located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The city itself was founded on January 1, 1951, but the area had already been opened to railway traffic as early as November 20, 1897. As of 2003, the city had an estimated population of 66,058 and ...
), covering an area of approximately 6 kilometers in width by 16 kilometers in length.
Overview
Crude oil
Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...
was discovered in
Echigo Province
was an old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It bordered on Uzen, Iwashiro, Kōzuke, Shinano, and Etchū Provinces. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Echigo''" in . It corresponds today to Niigata ...
from the end of the
Nara period, occurring in naturally-occurring
petroleum seeps. In 1874, the Nakano clan, the local village headman, applied to the
Meiji government for a permit to commercially mine the crude oil, and hand-pumping operations began almost immediately.
This operation was later taken over by
Nippon Oil (now
JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy
, formerly , or NOC or ''Shin-Nisseki'' (新日石) is a Japanese petroleum company. Its businesses include exploration, importation, and refining of crude oil; the manufacture and sale of petroleum products, including fuels and lubricants; and ...
) and with the industrialization of Japan in the
Meiji and
Taisho periods, demand for petroleum skyrocketed and over 100 small companies began drilling for oil in this area.
The crude oil of Niitsu is deep black to deep green in color, with high viscosity, high sulfur and high acid content, and low in paraffin. In the early Meiji Era, when petroleum was in demand largely for lamps, Niitsu crude was regarded as poor quality. However, with the
First Sino-Japanese War of 1894 and the
Russo-Japanese War in 1904 and improvements in
refining technology, Niitsu
heavy oil and
machine oil
A lubricant (sometimes shortened to lube) is a substance that helps to reduce friction between surfaces in mutual contact, which ultimately reduces the heat generated when the surfaces move. It may also have the function of transmitting forces, t ...
grew in demand.
By 1917, the field had reached its peak production of 120,000 kiloliters, and was the largest in Japan. Commercial production mostly stopped in the 1980s, due to decreasing yield and high costs compared with imported oil. In 1996, the last well was closed. and the site was subsequently transformed into a public park with a museum.
[ In 2007, the Niitsu Oil Field was selected as one of the "Top 100 Geological Sites in Japan",][ and was designated as a “Modern Industrial Heritage Site”. In 2018, the “Niitsu Oilfield Kanazu Mining Site” was designated as a National Historic Site of Japan.]
See also
* List of Historic Sites of Japan (Niigata)
References
External links
Akika Ward official site
Petroleum World Museum
{in lang, ja
Oil fields in Japan
Parks and gardens in Niigata Prefecture
Niigata (city)
Historic Sites of Japan