Craig A. Lewis¹, Emrys H. Jones¹

(1) Chevron Petroleum Technology Company, Houston, TX

ABSTRACT: Natural Gas Hydrates Testing in the Gulf of Mexico

There is evidence that accumulations of gas hydrates exceed the volumes of coal, oil and natural gas combined. If the technology can be improved to produce this vast resource, gas hydrates could have profound impact on the fossil fuels energy business, as a new opportunity for geoscientists and engineers alike.

Some research and development has occurred on the North Slope and the Far East, but little work has been done in the Gulf-of-Mexico. The subject joint industry project (JIP), led by Chevron, is a multimillion dollar, four-year technology development effort for the Gulf-of-Mexico. The JIP's technology and business objectives include the following: a) careful site selection (using seismic and other tools) for areas prospective of hydrates, b) site selection for areas not believed to be prospective, for seismic ground-truthing, c) actual drilling, coring and logging of potential hydrate zones using state-of-the-art tools, d) using the data to assess whether there are potential safety issues that need to be addressed, or not, and e) characterization of the hydrate resource in-place.

The paper will address the formation and process of forming this JIP, share summaries of the detailed technology development work plans, and provide a status report regarding the JIP's overall progress to date. The paper will also address technical areas where geoscientists could provide assistance to the JIP.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90906©2001 AAPG Annual Convention, Denver, Colorado