Dispelling The Myths: Exploration and Development of Natural Gas Hydrate

Johnson, Arthur H.¹, Michael D. Max¹ (1) Hydrate Energy International, Kenner, LA

As gas supplies tighten around the world, natural gas hydrate is being considered as a new gas play with potentially enormous natural gas resources by a growing number of energy companies and national governments. Results from scientific drilling consortia, such as the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) and more recently the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), have yielded considerable data about the occurrence of gas hydrate in sediments. This knowledge is critical for the successful commercial development of gas hydrate resources as disparate models for the accumulation of potential commercial natural gas deposits can be tested and exploration models developed. Many older and erroneous concepts concerning natural gas hydrate are deeply entrenched within the E&P community. These can be dispelled.

These “myths” about gas hydrate include (amongst others) the belief that 1) commercial gas hydrate deposits are always associated with a seismic “Bottom Simulating Reflector” (BSR), 2) that the best gas hydrate deposits are in remote areas, 3) that development is 20 or 30 years away and 4) will require entirely new methods of production, and 5) that hydrate resources in the Gulf of Mexico have no net present value so they can be ignored in lease sales.

Successful development of natural gas hydrate will require an accurate understanding of the nature of gas hydrate formation and the geological controls on their occurrences. The relationship between natural gas hydrate and their host sediments and the application of a petroleum systems approach can yield the same play development that has resulted in successful exploration methods for conventional gas deposits. Through the integration of information gained during the past five years, production of natural gas from hydrate should be viable in the near term – within the life of existing deepwater leases.