Holditch, Stephen A.¹, Emrys Jones² 
(1) Schlumberger, Houston, TX 
(2) ChevronTexaco, Houston, TX

ABSTRACT: Gas Hydrates in the Deep Water Gulf of Mexico – A Status Report of the ChevronTexaco JIP – DOE Research

ChevronTexaco formed a Joint Industry Project (JIP) to work with the U. S. Department of Energy to learn how to characterize the natural gas hydrate deposits in the deepwater portions of the Gulf of Mexico. The JIP group was formed in 2001, and a project partially funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) began in October 2001. The primary objective of this project is to develop technology and data to assist in the characterization of naturally occurring gas hydrates in the deep water Gulf of Mexico (GOM). These naturally occurring gas hydrates can cause problems relating to drilling and production of oil and gas, as well as building and operating pipelines. Other objectives of this project are to better understand how natural gas hydrates can affect seafloor stability, to gather data that can be used to study climate change, and to determine how the results of this project can be used to assess if and how gas hydrates act as a trapping mechanism for shallow oil or gas reservoirs. The project is divided into phases. Phase I of the project is devoted to gathering existing data, generating new data, and writing protocols that will help the research team determine the location of existing gas hydrate deposits. During Phase II of the project, ChevronTexaco will drill data collection wells in at least two (2) locations to improve the technologies required to characterize gas hydrate deposits in the deep water GOM using seismic, core and logging data. This oral presentation will present an overview of the results of Phase I and an update on the progress of Phase 2, which is expected to begin in Q1 of 2004.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90026©2004 AAPG Annual Meeting, Dallas, Texas, April 18-21, 2004.