Gas Hydrates- Energy Active
Natural gas production from methane hydrates may someday prove viable. The USGS Gas Hydrate Project takes part in US and international programs to investigate the potential of deepwater marine and permafrost gas hydrates as an energy resource. Long-term production tests are the next step in this research.
A key goal of the USGS Gas Hydrates Project is contributing to research that may lead to the development of gas hydrates as a potential energy source. This research is conducted by the USGS Gas Hydrates Project with support from both the Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program in the USGS Natural Hazards Mission Area) and the Energy Resources Program (ERP) in the USGS Energy and Minerals Mission Area.
Project personnel at the Central Energy Resources Science Center lead the expeditionary component of Project’s energy resource work, arranging USGS participation in drilling, borehole logging, pressure coring, and other activities to study hydrate-bearing formations in permafrost or marine environments. Geophysicists, geotechnical engineers, and geochemists based at the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center participate in these expeditions and conduct laboratory operations to analyze and interpret recovered sediments, hydrate, gas, and pore fluids to elucidate hydrate reservoir properties. Project scientists based at the USGS Earthquake Science Center at Menlo Park provide state-of-the-art cryogenic scanning electron microscopy that can image individual hydrate crystals.
Conducting a long-term production test would be an important step on the trajectory towards demonstrating that gas hydrates have resource potential. The USGS is at the forefront of efforts to plan a long-term production test. The USGS Gas Hydrates Project is collaborating with the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Organization (JOGMEC) and the U.S. Department of Energy to undertake a long-term production test in a permafrost setting near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska starting in January 2022. This project is the culmination of years of effort that included conventional drilling and borehole logging in Alaska and the permafrost of the Canadian Mackenzie Delta, short term production testing and analysis of the reservoir’s response, processing of three-dimensional seismic data, injection of CO2 into gas hydrate deposits, and planning and modeling to optimize pressure coring of hydrate-bearing sediments and initiation of the long-term production test.
Some of the locations where the USGS Gas Hydrates Project has participated in expeditions or post-cruise science focused on gas hydrates or gas hydrate resources are:
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Mallik (Mackenzie Delta, Canada) drilling in 2002
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Alaskan North Slope ("Mt Elbert" drilling at Milne Point) in 2007
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Ignik Sikumi (Alaskan North Slope) CO2 and nitrogen injection test in 2012
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Deepwater Gulf of Mexico Coring and Drilling in 2005, 2009, and 2017; seismic programs in 1999, 2002 and 2013; heat flow program in 2003; associated microbial analyses of hydrate-bearing sediments in 2019
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U.S. Atlantic margin seismic survey to refine gas hydrate distributions (MATRIX) in 2018
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Methane Hydrate 21 (MH21) Nankai Margin pressure core analysis in 2013
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Northern Gulf of Mexico seismic survey in 2013
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Beaufort Sea seismic surveys in 1977 and 2012
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National Gas Hydrates Program (NGHP) India in 2006 and in 2015
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Ulleung Basin/East Sea collaborations in 2007 and 2010
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Academic drilling: IODP 311 (Vancouver margin); ODP 164 (Blake Ridge) and 204 (Cascadia margin)
Research associated with the Gas Hydrates Energy Project
U.S. Geological Survey Gas Hydrates Project
Data releases associated with the Gas Hydrates Energy Project.
Preliminary global database of known and inferred gas hydrate locations
High concentration methane hydrate in a silt reservoir from the deep-water Gulf of Mexico
Pressure coring a Gulf of Mexico deep-water turbidite gas hydrate reservoir: Initial results from The University of Texas–Gulf of Mexico 2-1 (UT-GOM2-1) Hydrate Pressure Coring Expedition
An international code comparison study on coupled thermal, hydrologic and geomechanical processes of natural gas hydrate-bearing sediments
Potential freshening impacts on fines migration and pore-throat clogging during gas hydrate production: 2-D micromodel study with Diatomaceous UBGH2 sediments
Gas hydrate petroleum systems: What constitutes the “seal”?
2D micromodel study of clogging behavior of fine-grained particles associated with gas hydrate production in NGHP-02 gas hydrate reservoir sediments
Compressibility and particle crushing of Krishna-Godavari Basin sediments from offshore India: Implications for gas production from deep-water gas hydrate deposits
Preface: Marine gas hydrate reservoir systems along the eastern continental margin of India: Results of the National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02
Assessment of undiscovered gas hydrate resources in the North Slope of Alaska, 2018
Gas hydrate production testing – Knowledge gained
Multi-measurement approach for establishing the base of gas hydrate occurrence in the Krishna-Godavari Basin for sites cored during Expedition NGHP-02 in the offshore of India
Downhole physical property-based description of a gas hydrate petroleum system in NGHP-02 Area C: A channel, levee, fan complex in the Krishna-Godavari Basin offshore eastern India
News associated with the Gas Hydrates Energy Project
- Overview
Natural gas production from methane hydrates may someday prove viable. The USGS Gas Hydrate Project takes part in US and international programs to investigate the potential of deepwater marine and permafrost gas hydrates as an energy resource. Long-term production tests are the next step in this research.
A key goal of the USGS Gas Hydrates Project is contributing to research that may lead to the development of gas hydrates as a potential energy source. This research is conducted by the USGS Gas Hydrates Project with support from both the Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program in the USGS Natural Hazards Mission Area) and the Energy Resources Program (ERP) in the USGS Energy and Minerals Mission Area.
Project personnel at the Central Energy Resources Science Center lead the expeditionary component of Project’s energy resource work, arranging USGS participation in drilling, borehole logging, pressure coring, and other activities to study hydrate-bearing formations in permafrost or marine environments. Geophysicists, geotechnical engineers, and geochemists based at the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center participate in these expeditions and conduct laboratory operations to analyze and interpret recovered sediments, hydrate, gas, and pore fluids to elucidate hydrate reservoir properties. Project scientists based at the USGS Earthquake Science Center at Menlo Park provide state-of-the-art cryogenic scanning electron microscopy that can image individual hydrate crystals.
Conducting a long-term production test would be an important step on the trajectory towards demonstrating that gas hydrates have resource potential. The USGS is at the forefront of efforts to plan a long-term production test. The USGS Gas Hydrates Project is collaborating with the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Organization (JOGMEC) and the U.S. Department of Energy to undertake a long-term production test in a permafrost setting near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska starting in January 2022. This project is the culmination of years of effort that included conventional drilling and borehole logging in Alaska and the permafrost of the Canadian Mackenzie Delta, short term production testing and analysis of the reservoir’s response, processing of three-dimensional seismic data, injection of CO2 into gas hydrate deposits, and planning and modeling to optimize pressure coring of hydrate-bearing sediments and initiation of the long-term production test.
Some of the locations where the USGS Gas Hydrates Project has participated in expeditions or post-cruise science focused on gas hydrates or gas hydrate resources are:
-
Mallik (Mackenzie Delta, Canada) drilling in 2002
-
Alaskan North Slope ("Mt Elbert" drilling at Milne Point) in 2007
-
Ignik Sikumi (Alaskan North Slope) CO2 and nitrogen injection test in 2012
-
Deepwater Gulf of Mexico Coring and Drilling in 2005, 2009, and 2017; seismic programs in 1999, 2002 and 2013; heat flow program in 2003; associated microbial analyses of hydrate-bearing sediments in 2019
-
U.S. Atlantic margin seismic survey to refine gas hydrate distributions (MATRIX) in 2018
-
Methane Hydrate 21 (MH21) Nankai Margin pressure core analysis in 2013
-
Northern Gulf of Mexico seismic survey in 2013
-
Beaufort Sea seismic surveys in 1977 and 2012
-
National Gas Hydrates Program (NGHP) India in 2006 and in 2015
-
Ulleung Basin/East Sea collaborations in 2007 and 2010
-
Academic drilling: IODP 311 (Vancouver margin); ODP 164 (Blake Ridge) and 204 (Cascadia margin)
-
- Science
Research associated with the Gas Hydrates Energy Project
U.S. Geological Survey Gas Hydrates Project
The USGS Gas Hydrates Project has been making contributions to advance understanding of US and international gas hydrates science for at least three decades. The research group working on gas hydrates at the USGS is among the largest in the US and has expertise in all the major geoscience disciplines, as well as in the physics and chemistry of gas hydrates, the geotechnical properties of hydrate... - Data
Data releases associated with the Gas Hydrates Energy Project.
Preliminary global database of known and inferred gas hydrate locations
For more than 25 years, the U.S. Geological Survey Gas Hydrates Project has compiled and maintained an internal database of locations where the existence of gas hydrate has been confirmed or inferred in research studies. The existence of gas hydrate was considered confirmed when gas hydrate was recovered by researchers or videotaped from a vehicle (such as a submersible or remotely operated vehicl - Publications
Filter Total Items: 17
High concentration methane hydrate in a silt reservoir from the deep-water Gulf of Mexico
We present results from 30 quantitative degassing experiments of pressure core sections collected during The University of Texas-Gulf of Mexico 2-1 (UT-GOM2-1) Hydrate Pressure Coring Expedition at Green Canyon Block 955 in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico as part of The University of Texas at Austin–US Department of Energy Deepwater Methane Hydrate Characterization and Scientific Assessment. The hydAuthorsStephen Philips, Peter Flemings, Melanie Holland, Peter Schultheiss, William F. Waite, Junbong Jang, Ethan Petrou, Helen HammonPressure coring a Gulf of Mexico deep-water turbidite gas hydrate reservoir: Initial results from The University of Texas–Gulf of Mexico 2-1 (UT-GOM2-1) Hydrate Pressure Coring Expedition
The University of Texas Hydrate Pressure Coring Expedition (UT-GOM2-1) recovered cores at near in situ formation pressures from a gas hydrate reservoir composed of sandy silt and clayey silt beds in Green Canyon Block 955 in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico. The expedition results are synthesized and linked to other detailed analyses presented in this volume. Millimeter- to meter-scale beds of sandyAuthorsPeter Flemings, Stephen Phillips, Ray Boswell, Timothy Collett, Ann Cook, Tian Dong, Matthew Frye, David Goldberg, Giles Guerin, Melanie Holland, Junbong Jang, Kevin Meazell, Jamie Morrison, Joshua O'Connell, Ethan Petrou, Tom Pettigrew, Peter Polito, Alexey Portnov, Manasj Santra, Peter Schultheiss, Yongkoo Seol, William Shedd, Evan S. Solomon, Carla Thomas, William F. Waite, Kehua YouAn international code comparison study on coupled thermal, hydrologic and geomechanical processes of natural gas hydrate-bearing sediments
Geologic reservoirs containing gas hydrate occur beneath permafrost environments and within marine continental slope sediments, representing a potentially vast natural gas source. Numerical simulators provide scientists and engineers with tools for understanding how production efficiency depends on the numerous, interdependent (coupled) processes associated with potential production strategies forAuthorsM.D. White, T.J. Kneafsey, Y. Seol, William F. Waite, S. Uchida, J.S. Lin, E.M. Myshakin, X Gai, S. Gupta, M.T. Reagan, A.F. Queiruga, S. KimPotential freshening impacts on fines migration and pore-throat clogging during gas hydrate production: 2-D micromodel study with Diatomaceous UBGH2 sediments
The methane gas hydrate stored in natural sediments is considered a potential gas resource. Countries such as China, India, Japan, and Korea are interested in commercializing this resource, and offshore field pilot tests for gas production have been conducted using depressurization methods to destabilize gas hydrate and facilitate the migration of methane to the production well. However, fine-grAuthorsJunbong Jang, Shaung Cao, Laura A. Stern, William F. Waite, Jongwon Jung, Joo Yong LeeGas hydrate petroleum systems: What constitutes the “seal”?
The gas hydrate petroleum system (GHPS) approach, which has been used to characterize gas hydrates in nature, utilizes three distinct components: a methane source, a methane migration pathway, and a reservoir that not only contains gas hydrate, but also acts as a seal to prevent methane loss. Unlike GHPS, a traditional petroleum system (PS) approach further distinguishes between the reservoir, a uAuthorsJunbong Jang, William F. Waite, Laura A. Stern2D micromodel study of clogging behavior of fine-grained particles associated with gas hydrate production in NGHP-02 gas hydrate reservoir sediments
Fine-grained particles (fines) commonly coexist with coarse-grained sediments that host gas hydrate. These fines can be mobilized by liquid and gas flow during gas hydrate production. Once mobilized, fines can clog pore throats and reduce reservoir permeability. Even where particle sizes are smaller than pore-throat sizes, clogs can form due to clusters of fines. For certain types of fines, particAuthorsS.C. Cao, Junbong Jang, William F. Waite, Timothy Collett, Jenni Junger, P. KumarCompressibility and particle crushing of Krishna-Godavari Basin sediments from offshore India: Implications for gas production from deep-water gas hydrate deposits
Depressurizing a gas hydrate reservoir to extract methane induces high effective stresses that act to compress the reservoir. Predicting whether a gas hydrate reservoir is viable as an energy resource requires enhanced understanding of the reservoir’s compressibility and susceptibility to particle crushing in response to elevated effective stress because of their impact on the long-term permeabiliAuthorsJ. Kim, Sheng Dai, Junbong Jang, William F. Waite, Timothy S. Collett, Pushpendra KumarPreface: Marine gas hydrate reservoir systems along the eastern continental margin of India: Results of the National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02
The 2015 India National Gas Hydrate Program (NGHP) Expedition 02 was conducted to obtain new information on the occurrence of gas hydrate systems and to advance the understanding of geologic controls on the formation of gas hydrate accumulations in the offshore of India. The ultimate goal of the NGHP effort is to assess the energy resource potential of marine gas hydrates in India. The Guest EditoAuthorsTimothy S. Collett, Pushpendra Kumar, Ray Boswell, William WaiteAssessment of undiscovered gas hydrate resources in the North Slope of Alaska, 2018
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of about 54 trillion cubic feet of gas resources within gas hydrates in the North Slope of Alaska.AuthorsTimothy S. Collett, Kristen A. Lewis, Margarita V. Zyrianova, Seth S. Haines, Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Michael E. Brownfield, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Kristen R. Marra, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Janet K. Pitman, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Cheryl A. Woodall, David W. HouseknechtGas hydrate production testing – Knowledge gained
Since their initial discovery in the 1960’s, gas hydrates have been considered to be an important potential source of unconventional natural gas. Significant progress has been made relative to our understanding of the geologic and engineering controls on the ultimate energy potential of gas hydrate; however, more work is required to realize the promise of gas hydrates as a future energy source. GaAuthorsTimothy S. CollettMulti-measurement approach for establishing the base of gas hydrate occurrence in the Krishna-Godavari Basin for sites cored during Expedition NGHP-02 in the offshore of India
The 2015 National Gas Hydrate Program of India's second expedition, NGHP-02, acquired logging and coring datasets for constraining the base of the gas hydrate occurrence zone (deepest GH) and the theoretical base of gas hydrate stability zone (BGHS). These data are used here for two primary goals: to constrain the deepest occurrence of gas hydrate relative to predicted stability limits and the obsAuthorsWilliam F. Waite, Carolyn D. Ruppel, Timothy S. Collett, P. Schultheiss, M. Holland, K.M. Shukla, P. KumarDownhole physical property-based description of a gas hydrate petroleum system in NGHP-02 Area C: A channel, levee, fan complex in the Krishna-Godavari Basin offshore eastern India
India’s second National Gas Hydrate Program expedition, NGHP-02, collected logging while drilling and sediment core data in Area C offshore eastern India, to investigate controls on the distribution and peak saturations of methane gas hydrate occurrences in buried channel, levee and fan deposits. Physical property results are presented here for the four Area C coring sites: NGHP-02-07, targetingAuthorsWilliam F. Waite, Junbong Jang, Timothy S. Collett, Ronish Kumar - News
News associated with the Gas Hydrates Energy Project