Timeline of Gas Hydrate Expeditions

Timeline showing past and future drilling and deep-sea coring and borehole logging expeditions as of late 2017. The goal of the permafrost and deepwater marine programs is to evaluate the potential of gas hydrate as a resource, whereas the goal of the academic ocean drilling programs is to focus on critical research questions related to natural gas hydrate deposits. DOE refers to the U.S. Department of Energy. The academic programs are the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP; 1983–2003), the Integrated ODP (IODP; 2003–2013), and the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP), which started in 2013. The international marine drilling programs are the Ulleung Basin Gas Hydrates project (UBGH; Korea), the National Gas Hydrates Project (NGHP; India), and the Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey (GMGS; China).