Deepwater Natural Gas Hydrate Innovation Opportunities

Natural gas hydrate (NGH) is unique among conventional and unconventional gas resources. It is a stable, solid crystalline material in its reservoir. All deposits worldwide will be found in partially consolidated marine sediments within about 1 km or less from the seafloor, making them highly accessible from the seafloor. Deposits will also occur in the same partially consolidated sand beds. Most of these will be turbidite sands similar in almost every way to those that are older and more deeply buried, and that host conventional oil and gas deposits. NGH deposits are generally not associated with oil or hazardous chemicals. When NGH is inexpensively converted to its constituent gas and water, the resulting natural gas and water offer unique drilling opportunities. NGH deposits have very low environmental risk, even in regions such as the environmentally fragile Arctic. The unique characteristics of NGH concentrations will potentially allow much less expensive exploration, reservoir preparation, and production opportunities. In particular, there are opportunities in drilling and reservoir wellbore plans and new technologies for NGH exploitation that could provide an innovative pulse to offshore energy operations.