An intergovernmental research team has succeeded in tapping methane hydrate in an economically viable gas form for the first time, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.

Experts call methane hydrate a promising energy source, though it has never been tapped in gas form before. The frosted solid substance, which has a composition similar to natural gas, could prove to be a major source of energy for Japan due to its abundance under the surrounding seabed.

The team, comprising Japan National Oil Corp., the Geological Survey of Canada, the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Department of Energy, Germany's GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam and India's Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, ended its successful weeklong attempt to tap the gas Sunday.

The experiment was conducted in Canada's Northwest Territories, where the ground is permanently frozen.

Methane hydrate, frosted at low temperatures under high pressure, is found under the seabed, 1,000 meters to 2,000 meters below the sea near the continental shelves, as well as under permanently frozen ground in Siberia, Alaska and other arctic areas.

Until now, the substance could be extracted only in costly solid form before being turned into gas, making underground gasification necessary for economic viability.

The team dug three 1,200-meter wells, and then poured water heated to a temperature of about 90 into a methane hydrate layer about 900 meters underground. It then warmed the slush to about 40 and extracted methane gas through a pipeline, they said.

METI plans to conduct a similar test in waters off Japan in 2004 with the aim of establishing a commercially applicable knowledge base in about 10 years.

It is estimated that Japan's natural gas needs could be filled for 100 years by methane hydrate, they said.