What Are Gas Hydrates?

Aakash Jhatyal K-13PG07 Properties of Reservoir Fluids
WHAT ARE GAS HYDRATES?

Gas hydrates are naturally occurring, crystalline, ice-like substances composed of gas molecules (methane,
ethane, propane, etc.) held in a cage-like ice structure. (clathrate).
The formation and stability in the

subsurface of these structures are
constrained by a relatively narrow range
of high pressure and low temperature and
depend on the influx of free gas and the
amount of gas dissolved in the pore fluid.
Hydrates are a concentrated form of

natural gas compared with compressed
gas, but less concentrated than liquefied
natural gas. It is estimated that a
significant part of the Earth's fossil fuel is stored as gas hydrates, but as yet there is no agreement as to how
large these reserves are.
WHERE ARE THEY FOUND?

They are found abundantly worldwide in the top few hundred
meters of sediment beneath continental margins at water depths
between a few hundred and a few thousand feet. They are
present to a lesser extent in permafrost sediments in Arctic areas.
In the marine environment the gas hydrate stability zone is

determined by water depth, seafloor temperature, pore pressure,
thermal gradient and the gas and fluid composition. The base of
the zone in which hydrate can exist is limited by the increase in
temperature with depth beneath the seabed.
WHERE DO NATURAL GAS HYDRATES

OCCUR AND WHY?
The first known natural gas hydrates were man-made, although not intentionally. The early natural gas
industry found to its dismay that natural gas hydrate sometimes formed in pipelines as a wax-like, crystalline
material which plugged the line. Worse yet, when the pipeline was depressured in order to remove the plug,
the gas hydrate often stubbornly remained stable right up to ambient temperature and pressure. This
occurred because natural gas hydrates that contain more than one kind of guest molecule are often
physically stable over a wider range of temperature and pressure conditions than the range characteristic of
pure methane hydrate. Hydrate clogging of pipelines has been simply if not inexpensively avoided ever since
by drying the gas stream before injecting it into the pipeline, inasmuch as the removal of water eliminates
the possibility of hydrate formation. Its formation is typically chemically inhibited when necessary in
production operations.
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INDICATORS
The occurrence of hydrates can be estimated in well logs,
in particular electrical resistivity and sonic logs.
Gas hydrate bearing sediments show anomalously high

electrical resistivity and high acoustic velocities. At the
base of the gas-hydrate stability zone, which marks the
contact between gas-hydrate and free-gas-bearing
sediments, a distinct drop in acoustic velocity often
characterizes the acoustic log.
Currently, the principal indicator of marine methane

hydrates is the detection of bottom-simulating reflectors
(BSR's) on seismic data. Unfortunately, in older data these
BOTTOM-SIMULATING REFLECTORS (BSR'S) ARE A may have been processed away as they were not
PRINCIPAL INDICATOR OF MARINE METHANE HYDRATES recognized for what they are. Reprocessing existing data,
concentrating on the shallow section and the BSR, should improve estimates of the extent of this resource.
POSSIBLE PRODUCTION METHODS

There are at least three means by which commercial production of natural gas hydrates might eventually be
achieved, all of which alter the thermodynamic conditions in the hydrate stability zone such that the gas
hydrate decomposes.
The first method is depressurization, akin to what may have happened at the Messoyakha Field. Its objective
is to lower the pressure in the free-gas zone immediately beneath the hydrate stability zone, causing the
hydrate at the base of the hydrate stability zone to decompose and the freed gas to move toward a
wellbore.
The second method is thermal stimulation, in which a source of heat provided directly in the form of injected
steam or hot water or another heated liquid, or indirectly via electric or sonic means, is applied to the
hydrate stability zone to raise its temperature, causing the hydrate to decompose.
The third method is chemical inhibition, similar in concept to the chemical means presently But recent
sediment studies of the natural gas hydrate used to inhibit the formation of water ice. This method deposits
at the Blake Ridge, located about 200 miles east of seeks to displace the natural gas hydrate equilibrium
Charleston, South Carolina, have not been encouraging.
Condition beyond the hydrate stability zone’s thermo- Blake Ridge is a large hill-like sedimentary feature
formed dynamic conditions through injection of a liquid by drift currents in water depths ranging from 900
to 4,000 inhibitor chemical adjacent to the hydrate.
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SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

Naturally occurring natural gas hydrates present both mechanical and chemical risks. Normal drilling can
generate enough down hole heat to decompose surrounding hydrates, possibly resulting in loss of the well,
or in loss of well control and conceivably should the drilling be from a platform an ensuing loss of foundation
support. While large volumes of oceanic natural gas hydrate deposits are known to have decomposed in the
past absent human influence, information on their role in the global carbon cycle and global climate change
is limited. It is clear that the release of large quantities of methane into the atmosphere, for whatever
reason, would substantially increase its greenhouse capability since methane is 21 times more potent a
greenhouse gas than is carbon dioxide. Very little is presently known about the stability of natural gas
hydrate deposits, especially those located on the ocean floor, during a period of “normal” global warming,
i.e. gradual and low amplitude.
POSSIBLE TRANSPORTATION METHODS

If commercial production from oceanic natural gas hydrates is eventually established, there are at least three
ways to transport the gas ashore:
(1) by conventional pipeline;

(2) by converting the gas hydrates to liquid middle distillates via the newly-improved Fischer-Tropic
process and loading it onto a conventional tanker or barge; or
(3) by reconverting the gas into solid hydrate and shipping it ashore in a close-to-conventional ship or
barge.
The latter option was proposed in 1995 by a research team at the Norwegian Institute of Technology, which
determined that use of natural gas hydrate for the transportation and storage of natural gas was a serious
alternative to gas liquefaction since the upfront capital costs are 25 percent lower. Yet another positive
factor is that it is far safer to create, handle,
WHY ARE GAS HYDRATES IMPORTANT?

Large quantities of gas hydrates exist on the world's continental margins. Methane from gas hydrates may
constitute a future source of natural gas. This energy potential is probably the main motivation for many
national gas hydrate programmers overseas, e.g., in Japan and the U.S.
Gas hydrates are also important for seafloor stability studies, because "melting" gas hydrate may cause
seafloor "land" slides. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas. Methane released from gas hydrate may
therefore play a significant role in climate change.
RESEARCH ON GAS HYDRATES

A variety of gas hydrate research programs are currently underway in different parts of the world, and a
listing of all of them is beyond the scope of this article. However, a few key research programs are
particularly worthy of note:
The DOE Gulf of Mexico Joint Industry Project (JIP) is an aggressive multimillion dollar gas hydrate research
program focused on the US Gulf of Mexico. JIP participants include the US Department of Energy and a
group of petroleum industry companies, including ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, Japan National Oil company,
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MMS, Reliance Industries, Schlumberger and Total Final Elf. In 2004, the JIP program is planning to core
multiple gas hydrate accumulations in the GOM. This multiyear program is summarized by Shirley (2004).
Another program of note in 2004 is that being undertaken by a Japanese government-sponsored gas hydrate
research organization: the Research Consortium for Methane Hydrate Resources in Japan (also known as the
MH21 Research Consortium). That program plans to drill and core between 10 and 20 wells in 2004 in the
Nankai Trough offshore of eastern Japan.
However, MH21 Research Consortium gas hydrate research extends beyond coastal Asia. In 2002,
production testing of gas hydrates in the Mackenzie Delta (Canada) was conducted by an international
consortium that included the Japan National Oil Company and the Geological Survey of Canada. Detailed
results of that project have only recently been publicly presented at a conference in Chiba, Japan in
December 2003.

What Are Gas Hydrates?

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What Are Gas Hydrates?

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Aakash Jhatyal K-13PG07 Properties of Reservoir Fluids

WHAT ARE GAS HYDRATES?

The formation and stability in the

Hydrates are a concentrated form of

WHERE ARE THEY FOUND?

In the marine environment the gas hydrate stability zone is

WHERE DO NATURAL GAS HYDRATES

Gas hydrate bearing sediments show anomalously high

Currently, the principal indicator of marine methane

POSSIBLE PRODUCTION METHODS

SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

POSSIBLE TRANSPORTATION METHODS

(1) by conventional pipeline;

WHY ARE GAS HYDRATES IMPORTANT?

RESEARCH ON GAS HYDRATES

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