Page 21: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Mar/Apr 2013)

20 22

Perspectives

Analysis

Why US gas hydrate potential is losing its ? zz

Andrew McBarnet points to the signs that indicate previous enthusiasm for gas hydrate research in the US may be running out of steam.

The announcement last Service, now the sediments which would Laboratory (NETL) month of signi? cant Bureau of Ocean Energy be most likely producible. brie? ng, the ? gures

T progress in a key gas Management (BOEM), Subsequently, in 2011, compare with the total hydrates research project suggested that there were BOEM released some new US natural gas resource, offshore Japan featuring about 11,00034,000Tcf estimates for the lower excluding hydrates, some US participation of methane in-place 48 US Outer Continental amounting to 2074Tcf, scarcely made it into in hydrate form in Shelf, but the volumes based on estimates the oil industry news the northern Gulf of of possible gas remain reported by the Potential cycle. The scant coverage Mexico, with a mean huge. Also, in 2008, the Gas Committee. It says, suggests that interest value of 21,444Tcf. The US Geological Survey ‘If one-third of the in the promise of gas assessment made no (USGS) estimated that natural gas in-place hydrates as a major future estimate of how much there is approximately in methane hydrate in energy source for the of this was technically 85Tcf of undiscovered, but sandy sediments of the

US has once again been or economically technically recoverable, Gulf of Mexico becomes consigned to the back recoverable, but did natural gas resource in technically recoverable, burner. This is despite the comment that about sediments within and the US could double its massive potential resource 6700Tcf of the resource beneath the permafrost on total natural gas resource.’ availability in the US. occurs in relatively the North Slope of Alaska. Any incentive to step up In 2008, the US high-concentration According to a National investment in the current

Minerals Management accumulations in sandy Energy Technology modest research efforts oedigital.com March 2013 | OE 23 oe_analysis_rev3.indd 23 27/02/2013 11:22