Timothy S Collett
Dr. Collett provides science leadership and management oversight within the Energy Resources Program (ERP) funded tasks in the USGS Gas Hydrate Project, which include the (1) North Slope of Alaska Gas Hydrate Energy Production Research Task, (2) Gas Hydrate Energy Assessment Task, (3) International Gas Hydrate Research and Science Advisor Task, and the (4) Gulf of Mexico Gas Hydrate Task.
Dr. Collett has been a research geologist in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) since 1983. Tim received a B.S. in geology from Michigan State University, a M.S. in geology from the University of Alaska, and a Ph.D. in geology from the Colorado School of Mines. Tim is the Project Chief of the Energy Resources Program funded gas hydrate research efforts in the USGS. He has received the Department of the Interior Meritorious Service Award and the Golomb-Chilinger Medal from the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences and the Natural Resources of Canada Public Service Award. Tim has been the Chief and Co-Chief Scientist of numerous domestic and international gas hydrate scientific and industrial drilling expeditions and programs. He has been the Co-Chief Scientists and Operational Manager for the India NGHP Expedition 01 and 02 gas hydrate drilling and testing projects. Tim was a Co-Chief Scientist of the international cooperative gas hydrate research project that was responsible for drilling dedicated gas hydrate production research wells in the Mackenzie Delta of Canada under the Mallik 1998 and 2002 efforts. Tim was the logging scientist on the Gulf of Mexico JIP Gas Hydrate Research Expedition in 2005 and is the Co-Chief Scientist of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 311, and the Gulf of Mexico JIP Leg II drilling project in 2009. He sailed as a science advisor on the Korean UBGH2 Expedition in 2010 and the 2017 University of Texas Gulf of Mexico 2-1 Hydrate Pressure Coring Expedition. Tim was also the Principal Investigator responsible for organizing and conducting the 1995 and 2008 USGS National Oil and Gas Assessment of natural gas hydrates. Tim is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Geophysics at the Colorado School of Mines. Tim’s current research efforts in the USGS deal mostly with domestic and international gas hydrate energy resource characterization studies. His ongoing gas hydrate assessment activities in Alaska are focused on assessing the energy resource potential of gas hydrates on the North Slope. Tim’s international gas hydrate activities include cooperative projects with research partners in India, Korea, Japan, China, and Canada. Tim also continues to represent the USGS gas hydrate interest in the Gulf of Mexico through a U.S. Department of Energy cooperative. Tim has published more than 250 research papers along with 10 books and treatises on gas hydrates and other unconventional resources.
Professional Experience
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Research Geologist 1983-present
Education and Certifications
B.S. in geology from Michigan State University
M.S. in geology from the University of Alaska
Ph.D. in geology from the Colorado School of Mines
Science and Products
Petrophysical and geomechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments recovered from Alaska North Slope 2018 Hydrate-01 Stratigraphic Test Well
Design and operations of the Hydrate 01 Stratigraphic test well, Alaska North Slope
Gas hydrate saturation estimation from acoustic log data in the 2018 Alaska North Slope Hydrate-01 stratigraphic test well
Alaska North Slope 2018 Hydrate-01 Stratigraphic Test Well: Technical results
Natural gas hydrates: Status of potential as an energy resource
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
Permeability anisotropy and relative permeability in sediments from the National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02, offshore India
Physical property characteristics of gas hydrate-bearing reservoir and associated seal sediments collected during NGHP-02 in the Krishna-Godavari Basin, in the offshore of India
India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 Summary of Scientific Results: Gas hydrate systems along the eastern continental margin of India
Formation pressure and fluid flow measurements in marine gas hydrate reservoirs, NGHP-02 expedition, offshore India
India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition-02: Operational and technical summary
Science and Products
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Petrophysical and geomechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments recovered from Alaska North Slope 2018 Hydrate-01 Stratigraphic Test Well
Knowledge of petrophysical and geomechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments are essential for predicting reservoir responses to gas production. The same information is also needed for the designing of production well completions such as specifications for artificial lift, test site water storage capacity, and mesh size for the sand control systems. In December 2018, the StratigraphicAuthorsJun Yoneda, Yusuke Jin, Michihiro Muraoka, Motoi Oshima, Kiyofumi Suzuki, Mike Walker, Donald Westacott, Satoshi Otsuki, Kenichi Kumagai, Timothy Collett, Ray Boswell, Norihiro OkinakaDesign and operations of the Hydrate 01 Stratigraphic test well, Alaska North Slope
The National Energy Technology Laboratory, the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation, and the U.S. Geological Survey are leading an effort to conduct an extended gas hydrate production test in northern Alaska. The proposed production test required the drilling of an initial stratigraphic test well (STW) to confirm the geologic conditions of the proposed test site. This well was completedAuthorsTimothy S. Collett, Margarita V. Zyrianova, Norihiro Okinaka, Motoi Wakatsuki, Ray Boswell, Scott Marsteller, David Minge, Stephen Crumley, David Itter, Robert D. HunterGas hydrate saturation estimation from acoustic log data in the 2018 Alaska North Slope Hydrate-01 stratigraphic test well
Completed in December 2018, the Alaska North Slope Hydrate 01 stratigraphic test well provides a wealth of logging-while-drilling (LWD) data for strata to below the base of gas hydrate stability (BGHS). This well is intended to be the first of three wells drilled for a long-term gas hydrate production test to be conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory, theAuthorsSeth S. Haines, Timothy Collett, Ray Boswell, Teck Lim, Nori Okinaka, Kiyofumi Suzuki, Akira FujimotoAlaska North Slope 2018 Hydrate-01 Stratigraphic Test Well: Technical results
The Hydrate-01 Stratigraphic Test Well was drilled in December 2018 to confirm that a seismically-identified location within the western Prudhoe Bay Unit might be suitable for extended-duration scientific production testing. The well tested two primary targets: the deeper Unit B is highly favorable due to optimal reservoir temperature and minimal observed risk for direct communication with permeabAuthorsRay Boswell, Timothy Collett, Kiyofumi Suzuki, Jun Yoneda, Seth S. Haines, Nori Okinaka, Machiko Tamaki, Stephen Crumley, David Itter, Robert HunterNatural gas hydrates: Status of potential as an energy resource
Gas hydrate is a widespread naturally-occurring combination of water and natural gases. Gas hydrate is found in shallow sediments of deepwater regions of the continental margins and in areas of continuous permafrost. Where gas supply is sufficient and migration pathways connect gas sources to favorable reservoirs, gas hydrate can accumulate to resource densities that may be attractive for gas prAuthorsRay Boswell, Steve Hancock, Koji Yamamoto, Timothy Collett, Mahendra Pratap, Sung-Rock Lee2D 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 KumarPermeability anisotropy and relative permeability in sediments from the National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02, offshore India
Gas and water permeability through hydrate-bearing sediments essentially governs the economic feasibility of gas production from gas hydrate deposits. Characterizing a reservoir’s permeability can be difficult because even collocated permeability measurements can vary by 4-5 orders of magnitude, due partly to differences between how various testing methods inherently measure permeability in differAuthorsSheng Dai, J. Kim, Yue Xu, William F. Waite, Junbong Jang, J. Yoneda, Timothy S. Collett, Pushpendra KumarPhysical property characteristics of gas hydrate-bearing reservoir and associated seal sediments collected during NGHP-02 in the Krishna-Godavari Basin, in the offshore of India
India’s National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 (NGHP-02), was conducted to better understand geologic controls on gas hydrate occurrence and morphology, targeting potentially coarse-grained sediments near the base of the continental slope offshore eastern India. This study combines seismic, logging-while-drilling data, and a petroleum systems approach to provide a regional geologic context foAuthorsJunbong Jang, William F. Waite, Laura A. Stern, Timothy S. Collett, Pushpendra KumarIndia National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 Summary of Scientific Results: Gas hydrate systems along the eastern continental margin of India
The primary objectives of the India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 (NGHP-02) were to obtain new data on the occurrence of gas hydrate systems and to advance the understanding of the controls on the formation of gas hydrate accumulations in the offshore of India. In accordance with the ultimate overall goal of the NGHP effort to assess the energy resource potential of marine gas hydratAuthorsTimothy S. Collett, Ray Boswell, William F. Waite, Pushpendra Kumar, Sandip Kumar Roy, Krishan Chopra, Sunil Kumar Singh, Yasuhiro Yamada, Norio Tenma, John Pohlman, Margarita ZyrianovaFormation pressure and fluid flow measurements in marine gas hydrate reservoirs, NGHP-02 expedition, offshore India
Open Hole Modular Dynamic Testing (MDT) measurements were conducted in a gas hydrate-bearing sand-rich reservoir offshore India during the National Gas Hydrate Program 02 (NGHP-02) Expedition. The primary goal of this test was to obtain effective reservoir petrophysical properties in the presence of gas hydrates. The test plan included a series of pre-hydrate dissociation flow and build-up (shut-iAuthorsPushpendra Kumar, Timothy S. Collett, U.S. Yadav, Juli SinghIndia National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition-02: Operational and technical summary
The India National Gas Hydrate Program is being steered by the government of India's Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) with participation of Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), and the National Oil Companies and Research Institutes of India. The India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 01 (NGHP-01) established the presence ofAuthorsPushpendra Kumar, Timothy S. Collett, K. M. Shukla, U. S. Yadav, M. V. Lall, Krishna Vishwanath - News