--> Abstract: Natural Gas Hydrates: Resource of the 21st Century?, by T. S. Collett; #90917 (1999).
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TIMOTHY S. COLLETT
U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO

Abstract: Natural Previous HitGasNext Hit Previous HitHydratesNext Hit: Resource of the 21st Century?

The estimated amount of Previous HitgasNext Hit in the hydrate accumulations of the world greatly exceeds the volume of known conventional Previous HitgasNext Hit reserves. However, the role that Previous HitgasNext Hit Previous HithydratesNext Hit will play in contributing to the world's energy requirements will depend ultimately on the availability of sufficient Previous HitgasNext Hit hydrate resources and the "cost" to extract them. Yet considerable uncertainty and disagreement prevails concerning the world's Previous HitgasNext Hit hydrate resources.

Previous HitGasNext Hit Previous HithydratesNext Hit occur in sedimentary deposits under conditions of pressure and temperature present in permafrost regions and beneath the sea in outer continental margins. The combined information from Arctic Previous HitgasNext Hit-hydrate studies shows that, in permafrost regions, Previous HitgasNext Hit Previous HithydratesNext Hit may exist at subsurface depths ranging from about 130 to 2,000 m. The presence of Previous HitgasNext Hit Previous HithydratesNext Hit in offshore continental margins has been inferred mainly from anomalous seismic reflectors known as bottom-simulating reflectors, that have been mapped at depths below the sea floor ranging from about 100 to 1,100 m. Current estimates of the amount of Previous HitgasNext Hit in the world's marine and permafrost Previous HitgasNext Hit hydrate accumulations are in rough accord at about 20,000 trillion cubic meters.

Previous HitGasNext Hit hydrate as an energy commodity is often grouped with other unconventional hydrocarbon resources. In most cases, the evolution of a non-producible unconventional resource to a producible energy resource has relied on significant capital investment and technology development. To evaluate the energy resource potential of Previous HitgasNext Hit Previous HithydratesNext Hit, will also require the support of sustained research and development programs.

Despite the fact that relatively little is known about the ultimate resource potential of natural Previous HitgasNext Hit Previous HithydratesNext Hit, it is certain that Previous HitgasNext Hit Previous HithydratesNext Hit are a vast storehouse of natural Previous HitgasTop and significant technical challenges need to be met before this enormous resource can be considered an economically producible reserve.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90917@2000 AAPG Foundation Pratt II Conference, San Diego, California