New Plans to Uncover the Potential of America's Methane Hydrate Resource

Category: Energy
Type: News
Source: NETL
Date: Monday, August 7th, 2006

WASHINGTON, DC - The D.O.E. today announced the selection of 6 cost-shared research and development plans that seek to unlock a huge potential source of hydrocarbon energy: methane hydrate.

Methane hydrate is an ice-like solid that results from the trapping of methane molecules-the main constituent of natural gas-within a lattice-like cage of water molecules. Dubbed the "ice that burns," this substance delivers gaseous methane when it melts. Because of the ever-present nature of water and methane -a natural byproduct of the breakdown of organic matter by bacteria-it has long been acknowledged that methane hydrate could exist in almost any environment, given the right combination of cool temperature and high pressure.

In the United States, where methane hydrate occurs beneath the permafrost of Alaska's arctic north and below the seabed offshore, the volume of this resource is staggering. The U.S.Geological Survey estimates that the Nation's methane hydrate deposits could hold as much as 200,000 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas. This compares with a non-hydrate U.S. natural gas resource of 25,000 Tcf-of which only 1,400 Tcf is deemed recoverable with current technology. If just one percent of the hydrate resource in America were commercially developed, it would in excess of double the Nation's proved gas reserves.

Apart from the vast energy potential of methane hydrate, there are some serious safety and environmental concerns. The close proximity of hydrate deposits to pre-historic landslides suggests the possibility of seafloor landslides affecting oil and gas facilities and underscores the challenges inherent in drilling and producing the hydrate resource itself. In addition, there is concern that disruption of hydrate deposits could release methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere.

These concerns as well as DOE's goal of developing methane production from hydrate, require that we better understand the spatial variation and physical properties of hydrate-bearing sediments and refine our ability to predict their location prior to drilling. The 6 plans selected in the latest round of backing for hydrate research, managed by FE's Countrywide Energy Technology Laboratory, will address these objectives.

The Energy Department will provide about $4.6 million of the 6 projects' total combined costs of roughly $5.8 million. The selected plans are described below:

University of Texas, Austin, Texas -This plan looks for to quantify how methane is distributed and transported within a hydrate resource area. In concept, methane is transported when gas pressure builds up until it fractures the sediment; water and gas then move into the fracture, the gas drains into the sediment, and hydrate forms at the gas/water interfaces. Researchers will model fracture initiation and propagation as well as the geometry of gas/water interfaces, coupling the 2 models to help simulate a mechanism for how gas and hydrate coexist. The resulting model would be an important step toward characterizing and predicting the behavior of active vs. stable hydrate deposits, and it will help us better understand the complex systems containing hydrate, water, free gas, and sediment. (DOE award: $1.074 million; cost share: $268,746; plan duration: four years)
Baylor University, Waco, Texas -In this project, researchers will conduct field studies using a novel method for acquiring geophysical data to characterize the volume of hydrate resources in-place within a Gulf of Mexico seafloor deposit. The targeted site-the focus of hydrate research since 2001-has both active and dormant gas seeps. It is believed this gas has migrated from a sub-seafloor hydrate deposit, but conventional geophysical survey methods have failed to confirm the deposit. Oil and gas companies have long used the measurement of resistivity-the ability of a material to resist conduction of electricity-to ascertain the fluid content of subsurface rocks. Baylor researchers will inject direct electrical current into the seafloor to remotely measure sub-seafloor resistivity and discern hydrate from other materials. If validated, the suggested method could prove a valuable new tool for detecting and characterizing marine hydrate. (DOE award: $271,966; cost share: $68,885; plan duration: three years)
Rice University, Houston, Texas -There is a great deal of variability in the distribution of hydrate and hydrate-associated free gas among methane hydrate systems. Such regional heterogeneity affects all key aspects of methane hydrate research. This plan looks for to understand these regional differences from the perspective of hydrate as an energy resource, a geohazard, and a long-term climate influence. Researchers expect to generate data and models to pinpoint causes of gas hydrate variance, build numerical models to explain and predict regional-scale hydrate differences, simulate methane production from various hydrate systems, assess the potential impacts of hot fluids on seafloor and well stability, and develop geophysical approaches that will enable an operator to remotely quantify hydrate heterogeneity without having to drill a well. Rice University will partner with the University of Houston on this project. (DOE award : $895,147; cost share: $250,779; plan duration: three years)
Rock Solid Images, Houston, Texas -Gathering reliable seismic data-the capture and processing of acoustic energy signals bounced off of subsurface formations-is key to understanding and ultimately developing America's vast hydrate resource. Accurately characterizing hydrate deposits with seismic data will also benefit environmental researchers by providing data for climate models. In this project, Rock Solid Images will use a novel approach to extract certain seismic data attributes in thinly bedded individual hydrate reservoirs, which typically are too thin for direct seismic detection. The approach should enable a more accurate assessment of these thinly bedded reservoirs' aggregated volumes in a thick column of sediments. (DOE award: $959,189; cost share: $239,797; plan duration: two years)
North Slope Borough, Barrow, Alaska -This plan looks for to characterize and quantify the methane hydrate resource believed to exist in the Barrow area of Alaska's North Slope. Results of previous D.O.E. research suggest that a significant hydrate resource may be associated with 3 producing natural gas fields near Barrow, the North Slope Borough's biggest population center and economic hub. Investigators will use geoscience studies and modeling of temperature and pressure conditions of hydrate occurrence to try to confirm and characterize the Barrow hydrate deposit's association with the gas fields. If hydrate occurrence in the gas fields is shown likely, future plans could include the design and drilling of a dedicated hydrate well in the area and, possibly, field testing to provide valuable insights into the producibility of hydrate reservoirs. (DOE award: $631,788; cost share: $130,535; plan duration: two years)
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia -This plan will include a combination of modeling, experimental, and theoretical work, with the overall goal of generating information that could assist in developing a technically and economically viable means for producing methane from hydrate-bearing sediments. To accomplish this, Georgia Tech researchers will try to address shortcomings in current hydrate research to gain a thorough understanding of the physical phenomena underlying hydrate formation, stability, and dissolution; explore existing production strategies and devise potential new recovery methods; and develop mathematical models for assessing, designing, and controlling production operations. (DOE award: $787,585; cost share: $244,509; plan duration: four years)

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