U.S., Japan Successfully Test Methane Hydrate Technologies
Washington - U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced May 2 the
completion of a successful test of technology in the North Slope region of
Alaska that was able to safely extract a steady flow of natural gas from methane
hydrates.
The Energy Department partnered with ConocoPhillips Company and Japan Oil,
Gas and Metals National Corporation to conduct a test of natural gas extraction
from methane hydrate using a unique production technology, developed through
laboratory collaboration between the University of Bergen, Norway, and
ConocoPhillips.
Methane hydrates are ice structures with natural gas locked inside. They
are found both onshore and offshore, including under the Arctic permafrost and
in ocean sediments along nearly every continental shelf in the world, the Energy
Department said in a press release.
Building upon this small-scale test, the department said it is launching a
new research effort to conduct a long-term production test in the Arctic as well
as research to test additional technologies that could be used to locate and
safely extract methane hydrates on a larger scale off the U.S. Gulf Coast.
"While this is just the beginning, this research could potentially yield
significant new supplies of natural gas," Chu said.
The proof-of-concept test ran February 15 to April 10. The team injected a
mixture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen into the formation, and demonstrated that
this mixture could promote the production of natural gas. Scientists are
analyzing the data to determine if the technique can also be used to store
carbon dioxide in the ice.
NEW RESEARCH EFFORT
The Energy Department announced two new steps May 2:
.. The department is making $6.5 million available in 2012 for research
into technologies to locate and safely extract natural gas from methane hydrate
formations like those in the Arctic and along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Projects will
address direct sampling or remote sensing of deepwater gas hydrates; new tools
and methods for monitoring, collecting and analyzing data to determine the
reservoir response and the environmental impacts related to methane hydrate
production; and clarifying the role in the environment of methane hydrates,
including their response to warming climates.
.. As part of President Obama's budget proposal for 2013, the department is
requesting an additional $5 million for gas hydrates research both domestically
and in collaboration with international partners. That could include a longer
test of extraction in the North Slope, which would again require work with
private-sector and international partners.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State.)
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