Natural-gas hydrates have been encountered beneath the permafrost and considered a nuisance by the oil and gas industry for years. Engineers working in Russia, Canada and the USA have documented numerous drilling problems, including kicks and uncontrolled gas releases, in arctic regions. Information has been generated in laboratory studies pertaining to the extent, volume, chemistry and phase behavior of gas hydrates. Scientists studying hydrate potential agree that the potential is great--on the North Slope of Alaska alone, it has been estimated at 590 TCF. However, little information has been obtained on physical samples taken from actual rock containing hydrates. This gas-hydrate project is in the second year of a three-year endeavor being sponsored by Maurer Technology, Noble, and Anadarko Petroleum, in partnership with the DOE. The purpose of the project is to build on previous and ongoing R&D in the area of onshore hydrate deposition. We plan to identify, quantify and predict production potential for hydrates located on the North Slope of Alaska. We also plan to design and implement a program to safely and economically drill, core and produce gas from arctic hydrates. The current work scope is to drill and core a well on Anadarko leases in FY 2003 and 2004. We are also using an on-site core analysis laboratory to determine some of the physical characteristics of the hydrates and surrounding rock. The well is being drilled from a new Anadarko Arctic Platform that will have minimal footprint and environmental impact. We hope to correlate geology, geophysics, logs, and drilling and production data to allow reservoir models to be calibrated. Ultimately, our goal is to form an objective technical and economic evaluation of reservoir potential in Alaska.
