Natural gas hydrates, which could potentially lead to huge energy resources, occur at high saturations within reservoir-quality sands in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), according to reports unveiled Tuesday by the Office of Fossil Energy’s (FE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).

Detailed findings from the May 2009 22-day expedition of the GOM Hydrates Joint Industry Project (JIP) Leg II “detail the extremely valuable and advanced datasets on the various gas hydrate occurrences that were discovered in the deepwater,” Energy Department officials said. “In addition, the reports provide significant new information on the optimal drilling and well control protocols for deep gas hydrate research projects.”

The NETL, in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey, the Minerals Management Service and an international industry research consortium led by Chevron Corp., issued preliminary findings from JIP Leg II last year (see Daily GPI, May 15, 2009).

Gas hydrates are comprised of natural gas — almost exclusively methane — in combination with water. Prior to this expedition, few studies had documented that the hydrates occurred in resource-quality accumulations in U.S. waters. The science team, in daily consultation with Chevron drill site managers, Chevron project managers and Schlumberger Geomechanics engineers onshore, recommended the course of day-to-day operations and data acquisition over the course of the expedition.

“Perhaps most importantly, the expedition and the resulting scientific data validate the integrated geological and geophysical methodology used in the site selection process, and provide increased confidence in the assessment of gas hydrate volumes in the Gulf of Mexico,” said the NETL. “It is expected that further evaluation of the complex geology of these hydrate deposits, including both conventional and pressure coring, will add significantly to the understanding of the nature and occurrence of gas hydrate-bearing sands in the marine environment.”

JIP, which was initiated in 2001 by the Department of Energy (DOE) agencies to investigate gas hydrates in the GOM, in 2005 completed Leg I drilling, logging and coring operations to assess gas hydrate-related hazards associated with drilling. The ultimate goal of the JIP Leg II effort is to gain further insight into the nature, formation, occurrence and physical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments as both a resource appraisal and to extend the first leg of the study on hydrate drilling hazards.

The latest reports cover the initial scientific results from three GOM sites explored during the JIP II expedition: Walker Ridge Block 313, Green Canyon Block 955 and Alaminos Canyon Block 21. Another expedition to collect core samples from the sites explored in 2009 is scheduled for 2011. The initial JIP Leg II reports and the technical summary are available from DOE.

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