Sagara Oil field
Encyclopedia
is located in Makinohara
, Shizuoka Prefecture
, Japan
.
Crude oil was discovered at Sagara Village
in May 1873, and hand-pumping operations began almost immediately. From 1874, Nippon Oil
(the predecessor to modern ENEOS) began mechanical pumping operations. The Sagara field was the only producing oil field
on Japan's Pacific
coast, and was the first in Japan to use oil pump
s. At the height of its production (in 1884), some 600 people were employed, and the field was producing 43,000 barrels of oil (721 kiloliters) per year. The oil was very light, and could be used in automobiles without refining
.
Production stopped in 1955, with the advent of cheap, imported oil. On November 28, 1980 the oil field was proclaimed a natural monument
and protected cultural property by the Shizuoka Prefectural government, and was transformed into a public park.
Makinohara, Shizuoka
is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the city had an estimated population of 48,745 and a density of 436 persons per km². The total area was 111.68 km².-Geography:...
, Shizuoka Prefecture
Shizuoka Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshu island. The capital is the city of Shizuoka.- History :Shizuoka prefecture was formed from the former Tōtōmi, Suruga and Izu provinces.The area was the home of the first Tokugawa Shogun...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Crude oil was discovered at Sagara Village
Sagara, Shizuoka
was a town located in Haibara District, Shizuoka, Japan.On October 11, 2005 Sagara was merged with the town of Haibara, also from Haibara District, to form the new city of Makinohara, and thus no longer exists as an independent municipality....
in May 1873, and hand-pumping operations began almost immediately. From 1874, Nippon Oil
Nippon Oil
The , or NOC or Shin-Nisseki is a Japanese petroleum company. Its businesses include the exploration, importation, and refining of crude oil; the manufacture and sale of petroleum products, including fuels and lubricants; and other energy-related activities.Its products are sold under the brand...
(the predecessor to modern ENEOS) began mechanical pumping operations. The Sagara field was the only producing oil field
Oil field
An oil field is a region with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over a large area, possibly several hundred kilometres across, full exploitation entails multiple wells scattered across the area...
on Japan's Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
coast, and was the first in Japan to use oil pump
Pumpjack
A pumpjack is the overground drive for a reciprocating piston pump in an oil well....
s. At the height of its production (in 1884), some 600 people were employed, and the field was producing 43,000 barrels of oil (721 kiloliters) per year. The oil was very light, and could be used in automobiles without refining
Oil refinery
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...
.
Production stopped in 1955, with the advent of cheap, imported oil. On November 28, 1980 the oil field was proclaimed a natural monument
Natural Monument
A natural monument is a natural or natural/cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities or cultural significance....
and protected cultural property by the Shizuoka Prefectural government, and was transformed into a public park.