Gas (Methane) Hydrate Resources

Hassan Z. Harraz
hharraz2006@yahoo.com
Spring 2018
@Hassan Harraz 2018
Gas Hydrates
1
Headache or Energy Source of the Future?
“The Burning
Snowball”
Methane
hydrate
supporting its
own
combustion

@Hassan Harraz 2018 Gas Hydrates 2

Objective
To study the Exploration and Production of Gas
Hydrates as future energy source.
Fire in the Ice
Methane hydrate
dissociating with
the methane
ignited –
“burning ice.”

4
Outline Lecture
 INTRODUCTION:
 Clathrates
 Hydrate
 Gas Hydrate
 Hydrates Fundamentals
 Typical Hydrate forming Gases
 STRUCTURAL GEOMETRIES OF GAS HYDRATES
 CONCERN ASSOCIATED WITH GAS HYDRATE
 TYPES OF METHANE HYDRATE DEPOSITS
The stability of methane hydrate in nature
 GAS HYDRATE PETROLEUM SYSTEM:
 Gas hydrate stability conditions
 Gas source
 Availability of water
 Migration of gas
 Reservoir rocks
 Timing
 CLASSIFICATION OF RESERVES:
 Classification Based on Sediment Type
 Classification Based on Initial Reservoir
Conditions
 Classification Based on Geological Features
@Hassan Harraz 2018 Gas Hydrates
 WORLD GAS HYDRATE RESOURCE:
Why are they important?
HowBig is theResource?
Resource Pyramid for Gas Hydrates
Do We have the Technology to
Extract Methane from Gas Hydrates?
 DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENT OF
METHANE HYDRATE
Where are Gas Hydrates Located?
 PRODUCTION FROM HYDRATES
 Gas Production Methods form
Hydrates
 Thermal Stimulation
 Depressurization
 InhibitorInjection
 CO2 Sequestration
 THE FUTURE OF METHANE HYDRATES

INTRODUCTION
What are hydrates?

Hydrates Fundamentals
Typical Hydrate forming Gases

Clathrates
What are clathrates?

STRUCTURAL GEOMETRIES OF GAS HYDRATES

Figure : Structural Geometries of Gas Hydrates
(Example: 435663 cavity signifies, 3 square faces, 6 pentagonal faces, and 3 hexagonal
faces). (http://www.pet.hw.ac.uk)

Table 2.1: Additional Information on Gas Hydrates (Sloan, 2008)

Hydrate Structures and Building Blocks

CONCERN ASSOCIATED WITH GAS HYDRATE
 Offshore Oil/Gas Activities:
 Hydrate formation in:
 unprocessed well streams
 well-bore or drill string
 pipeline
 Hydrate dissociation-seafloor
instability undersea
installations.
 At Submarine Slope Failure:
 Methane Gas
 Gas Hydrate in subsea
sediments

Dissociating Methane Hydrate at Sediment/Water Interface

Conceptual Picture of Hydrate Formation:

TYPES OF METHANE HYDRATE DEPOSITS
2) Arctic/Permafrost Deposits:
1) Ocean Deposits:

Gas Hydrate Schematic

Types of Methane Hydrate Deposits

21
Types of Methane Hydrate Deposits
General schematic showing typicalmodes of gas hydrateoccurrence relativeto the
geologic environment

Figure The stability of an idealized methane hydrate in nature (area to the left of the red phase boundary) in nominal marine
(A) and permafrost (B) cases, modified from Ruppel (2007). These diagrams show only where gas hydrate is stable in ocean
water and/or sediments, not where it actually occurs in nature. A. For the marine case at an arbitrary water depth of 1200 m,
gas hydrate is in theory stable in the lower part of the water column (where the ocean water temperature curve dips below the
stability curve) and in the uppermost ~200 m of the seafloor sediments (where the blue geotherm overlaps the yellow stability
zone). The possible configuration of gas hydrate-bearing sediments over free gas is shown in the column at the right.
Depending on the sediment geotherm and the ocean temperature structure, the gas hydrate stability zone thins to vanishing at
~300 to 500 m water depth on the continental margins and can thicken to include more than 1000 meters of seafloor
sediments at great water depths. B. For a nominal permafrost thermal gradient (geotherm), gas hydrate is theoretically stable
starting within the bottom part of permafrost-bound sediments and extending to several hundred meters below the base of
permafrost, as indicated by the depths over which the geotherm (blue) iscooler than the temperature of the phase transition
(red).

3) GAS HYDRATE PETROLEUM SYSTEM

4.2) Classification Based on Initial Reservoir Conditions

4.3) Classification Based on Geological Features

GAS HYDRATES AS A GLOBAL
RESOURCE FOR NATURAL GAS

5) WORLD GAS HYDRATE RESOURCE
World Gas Hydrate Resource
Land: 5000 -12000 million
Ocean: 30000 -49100
HOW BIG IS THE RESOURCE?

5.1) ARE GAS HYDRATES A POTENTIAL ENERGY SOURCE?

Estimated at Twice
Total Fossil Fuels
Fire in the Ice
Methane hydrate
dissociating with the
methane ignited –
“burning ice.”

Hydrates - Why are they important?

A distant view of the Second Onshore Gas Production Test site (left)
Flares of methane gas produced in the second Winter Test (right)

5.2) How Big is the Methane Hydrate Resource?

5.3) Resource Pyramid For Gas Hydrates
Source: redrawn from Boswell and Collett, 2006

The methane hydrate resource pyramid. (Boswell and Collett (2006)

BENEFITS:
 1 cubic meter of gas hydrate (90%
site occupied) = 163 m3 of gas
 there is A LOT of it, and it’s
everywhere
 clean-burning natural gas
 USA has gas hydrate reserves of
112,000-676,000 trillion cubic
feet (tcf)
 India and Japan are leading the
charge to hydrate recovery
5.4) Methane Hydrates as an energy source

5.5) Do We have the Technology to Extract Methane from Gas Hydrates?
• The types of gas hydrate deposits considered most suitable for natural gas
production are buried hundreds of meters beneath the sea floor or ground
surface. They are not amenable to mining techniques, due mainly to the
depth of the deposits and the unstable nature of gas hydrates. The current
consensus among researchers is that methane could be recovered from
gas hydrates using conventional hydrocarbon recovery techniques. The
proposed recovery strategy would be to drill hydrocarbon production wells
to access the gas hydrate. The pressure and temperature conditions of the
gas hydrate in the formation would be changed to break down the solid
gas hydrate, releasing methane gas and water. The free gas would then
flow up the well, to be collected at the surface using conventional
equipment.
• To date, more than a hundred dedicated gas hydrate research and
exploration wells have been drilled to quantify gas hydrate occurrences. In
addition, dedicated research wells offshore Japan and in permafrost
settings in Canada and Alaska have field-tested production technologies.
At the Mallik site in the Canadian Arctic, a full-scale thermal production
test was completed in 2002, and gas hydrate production by
depressurization of the reservoir was tested in the winters of 2007 and
2008. In 2012, an advanced production test programme involving carbon
dioxide injection and pressure draw-down was completed in Alaska, and in
early 2013, Japan conducted the first production test, using
depressurization, offshore that country’s southeastern coast.

Selected gas-hydrates study areas

Where are Gas Hydrates Located?Occurrence of Methane Hydrates:
98% in Ocean
2% on Land
Four Earth environments have
the temperature and pressure
conditions suitable for the
formation and stability of
Methane Hydrate.
These are:
1) Sediment and Sedimentary
rock units below Arctic
Permafrost;
2) Under Antarctic Ice;
3) Sedimentary Deposits
Along Continental Margins;
4) Deep-water Sediments of
Inland Lakes and Seas.
6) DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENT OF METHANE HYDRATE

98% in ocean
2% on land
Methane Hydrates Discoveries
Deep-water
Sediments of
Inland Lakes
and Seas
Sedimentary
Deposits along
Continental
Margins
Under Antarctic Ice
Sediment below Arctic Permafrost
Hydrates are found in situ in the deep oceans of the world, on the ocean floor or
in the sediments below the seafloor.
Hydrates are found in situ in permafrost regions.
Hydrates are also found in extraterrestrial environments.

Distribution of organic carbon in Earth. Numbers in gigatons
(1015 tons) of carbon.
Figure 1.1: Gas Hydrate Deposits in the World
(www.deepresource.wordpress.com)

43
Occurrence of Methane Hydrates
1) Arctic Regions
2) Cascadia
3) Blake Ridge
4) Gulf of Mexico
5) Nankai Trough
6) Caspian Sea

44
Offshore Hydrates
Potential for production of
methane.
Safety issues for offshore oil
and gas drilling:
Hydrates stabilize soft
sediments
Melting of hydrates can
destabilize drilling rigs and
offshore pipelines
Arctic Hydrates

45@Hassan Harraz 2018 Gas Hydrates

46
Mackenzie Delta Hydrates
• Gas trapped under permafrost
• Hydrates from: 200-1200 m depth
• Potential volume: 1013 m3 of methane
Mallick Well - Mackenzie Delta

Blake Ridge: using seismic-reflection profiles
Bottom Simulating Reflection (BSRs)
http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/hydrates/hydrate.htm

48
“The Burning
Snowball”
Methane hydrate
supporting its own
combustion

Current Exploration
Currently, India’s Oil Ministry and the US
Geological Survey made the discovery
of large, highly enriched
accumulations of natural gas
hydrate — an ice form of the fuel
— in the Bay of Bengal.
In early 2012, a joint project between the United
States and Japan produced a steady flow of
Methane (CH4) by injecting Carbon
Dioxide (CO2) into the methane hydrate
accumulation.
In 2016 ONGC has struck a gas reserve in the form of hydrates in the Krishna-Godavari
basin off the Andhra coast.

An Energy Coup for Japan: ‘Flammable Ice’
NYTimes, 3/12/13
Water depth: 1000m
subfloor depth: 300m
Gas Hydrates in Our Future

Large, expensive pilot programs
focus on drilling in frozen
permafrost areas
http://energy.usgs.gov/other/gashydrates/mallik.html
Ex: Mallik, Canada

In sands and other coarse-grained sediment,
gas hydrate (white) can form between the
sediment grains (dark grains) as shown in this
example from the Canadian Arctic.

New ocean sediment drilling technologies
invented for hydrate recovery and storage
an Ocean Drilling Program core locker
with lone hydrate core in pressurized chamber

Westbrook et al., 2009

Westbrook et al., 2009
 lots of CH4 escaping from
melting gas hydrates
 powerful positive feedback
on global warming
 CH4 is a powerful greenhouse
gas
 most likely oxidizes to CO2
before it enters the
atmosphere… but still!
 see Archer et al., 2007 for
detailed investigation of
methane hydrate dissociation
during global warming

The ocean scenario

7.1) Gas Production Methods form Hydrates

Gas Hydrate Production Methods
After Collett, 2000

Table 4: Major production methods with their advantages and limitations
Sl. No. Production
method
Basic principle Advantages Limitations
1
Thermal
stimulation
Increasing the temperature
above hydrate phase
Equilibrium temperature
Best suitable for
low-temperature
high-permeable
reservoirs
High energy loss to the surrounding formation
2 Depressurization
Decreasing the pressure
below the hydrate
equilibrium pressure
High energy
efficiency ratio
Ice formation/hydrate reformation may happen to
hinder the dissociation front propagation
3
Gas injection/
CO2
sequestration
Replace/exchange of gas
with methane
Least impact on the
formation
Availability of huge quantities of exchange-
gas/CO2 is a concern Gas injection/ CO2
sequestration
4
Inhibitor injection
Shifts the equilibrium curve
to high-pressure and low-
temperature region
Very effective, when
combined with
thermal flooding
methods
By inhibitor injection alone, significant hydrate
dissociation cannot be expected due to the small
shift of the phase equilibrium.
Environmental concern related to the
manufacturing, handling, and disposal of
chemicals
5
Electro-Thermal
heating
Increasing the temperature
above hydrate phase
equilibrium temperature
Easily implemented
and can be
operated remotely
Limited depth of penetration
6
Combined
methods
Simultaneously increasing
the temperature and
decreasing the pressure
Reducing the
limitations of
Individual methods
Good amount of reservoir data is a prerequisite
7 Mining
Mining hydrate out
of the reservoir
Best suitable for
Unconfined highly
saturated reservoirs
Not a viable option for hostile and deep sea
environments

Fig. 8 Different methane production methods fromthe gas hydrate reservoir

Fig. 9: Closed carbon cycle: Methane production, energy
generation, and CO2 sequestration

Where methane comes from
The methane in gas hydrates comes from the breakdown of organic
matter, the remains of dead plants and animals. Biogenic methane
results when microbes consume the organic matter and expel
methane as a waste product. Thermogenic methane comes from far
below Earth’s surface, where high pressures and temperatures cook
ancient, buried organic matter, producing methane, as well as oil
and other hydrocarbons.
ice worm that lives in hydrate
photo by Ian Mc Donald

71
Hydrates for Lunch?
Ice worm, Gulf of Mexico
Depth = 550 m

THE FUTURE OF METHANE HYDRATES

Conclusions
1) Gas Hydrates could support global energy security.
2) As the cleanest of the fossil fuel options, natural gas could
be an important source of energy for any future.
3) Gas hydrates are believed to occur in abundance in many
settings around the world. If this potential is confirmed, they
will become highly valued as local energy resources,
particularly for nations with limited conventional domestic
energy options.
4) Irreversible shift towards gaseous fuels.
5) Gas hydrates are secondary gas sources (internationally)
but are primary, in the national context.
6) Safe exploitation of methane from hydrate reservoirs calls
for a massive research program.

References
• British Petroleum Statical reports, 2016
• International Energy Outlook, 2016
• Moridis, G.J.; Collett, T.S.; Bosewel, R.; Reagen, M.T. (2010). challenges,
uncertainties and issues facing gas production from hydrate deposits in
geologic systems, SPE 131792.
• Clathrate Hydrates of Natural Gases, by E. Dendy Sloan, Jr., Marcel Dekker,
Inc., New York,1998.
• Goho, Alexandra. “Energy on Ice.” Science News. 6/25/2005, Vol. 167, Issue
26
• “Controlling, Remediation of fluid hydrates in deepwater drilling operations,”
by B.Edmonds, R.A.S. Moorwood and R. Szczepanski, Ultradeep Engineering,
March 2001.
• IADC Deepwater Well Control Guidelines. International Association of Drilling
Contractors. Houston, Texas, 1998.
• “Lab work clarifies gas hydrate formation, dissociation,” by Yuri F. Makogon
and Stephen A. Holditch. Oil & Gas Journal, Feb.5, 2001.
• “Experiments illustrate hydrate morphology, kinetics,” by Yuri F. Makogon and
Stephen A. Holditch. Oil & Gas Journal, Feb.12, 2001.
• SPE, OTC...

Take-home point
Methane hydrates represent the largest fossil fuel reservoir,
but problems ranging from yet-to-be-developed
technologies and climate change feedbacks remain to be
resolved.
PROBLEMS:
 Hydrate dissociation upon recovery; engineering
challenge
 Expense of long pipelines across continental slope,
subject to blockage with solid hydrate
 Methane release into atmosphere problem for
climate change (20x more potent than CO2)
 Fragile ecosystems surround sediment surface
hydrates & seeps

Outline of Lectures:
Topic 1: Natural Gas (Overview).
Topic 2: Unconventional Gas Reservoir
Topic 3: Shale Gas
Topic 4:Coalbed Methane (CBM)
Topic 5: Tight Reservoir
Topic 6: Gas Hydrates
Topic 7: Hydraulic Fracturing.
Topic 8 : Separating and Treating Well Fluids
Topic 9 : Natural Gas Processes
Topic 10 : Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Life Cycle Overview.
Topic 11 : Egyptian Natural Gas Resource (Overview).
@Hassan Harraz 2018
Nature Gas
76

Gas (Methane) Hydrate Resources

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