"Billions of tons of methane hydrate, frozen chunks of chemical-laced water buried in sediment some 3,000 feet under the Pacific Ocean floor, may help Japan win energy independence from the Middle East and Indonesia. Japanese engineers have found enough ``flammable ice'' to meet its gas use demands for 14 years. The trick is extracting it without damaging the environment.
...
Test Drilling Results

The most efficient method has proved ``depressurizing,'' which requires deep bore holes being drilled into the ice sheets. Pressure within the chamber is reduced by a pump, causing gaseous methane to separate from the water and ascend to the well head.

A first round of drilling was completed in April by Jogmec and the Canadian government and a second set of tests are scheduled for early 2008. The two governments won't disclose results due to a confidentiality agreement, Jogmec's Yokoi says. "
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aiUsVKaqDA7g

Linked from instapundit

They say "methane hydrate is economically viable when oil trades above $54 a barrel". That price range doesn't sound too promising, but there is no shortage of this stuff and perhaps the cost to produce can be lowered. I Say it not that promising because comparably oil sands are being mined at less than $30, and probably oil shale could be mined around $40 per barrel. But with methane one has some advantages, such it's a clean fuel, and perhaps useful in terms of fuel cell use.