Exploration and Production of Oceanic Natural Gas Hydrate (eBook)

Michael D. Max has a broad background including geology, geophysics, chemistry, acoustics, and information technology. He has a BSc from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, an MSc from the University of Wyoming, and a PhD from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. He has worked as a geologist / geophysicist for the Geological Survey of Ireland, the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, and the NATO Undersea Research Center, La Spezia, Italy. From 1999 to 2011 Max was CEO and Head of Research for Marine Desalination Systems LLC, which established a hydrate research laboratory and explored industrial applications of gas hydrate. He is the author of many scientific publications and four textbooks, and holds over 40 patents. He assisted in the writing of the US Gas Hydrate Research and Development Act of 2000. Michael is a member of the Methane Hydrate Advisory Committee of the Department of Energy 2014-2019, and is Co-Chair, Diving Committee of the Marine Technology Society. He is an Adjunct Professor at the School of Geological Sciences of University College, Dublin, Ireland.  HEI has been closed.  Michael is now carrying on his R&D activities through Max Systems LLC and University College, Dublin, Ireland.Art Johnson was a founding partner of Hydrate Energy International, LLC (HEI). Prior to forming HEI in 2002, Art had been a geologist with Chevron for 25 years, where his career included most aspects of hydrocarbon exploration and development. Art was instrumental in initiating Chevron’s Gulf of Mexico program for gas hydrate studies in 1995. He advised Congress and the White House on energy issues starting in 1997, and chaired advisory committees for several Secretaries on Energy. He had a longstanding role coordinating the research efforts of industry, universities, and government agencies. Art served as the Gas Hydrate Lead Analyst for the “Global Energy Assessment,” an international project undertaken by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) of Vienna, Austria and supported by the World Bank, UN organizations, and national governments that evaluated the energy resource bases of the entire planet with a view to addressing energy needs in the decades to come. He was Chair of the Gas Hydrate Committee of the Energy Minerals Division of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and was also very active in his Methodist Church and in helping with hurricane relief and peacemaking activities. Much to the sorrow of his good friend and co-author, and of countless other friends, Art unexpectedly passed away on August 9, 2017.

PrefaceChapter 1Energy Overview:  Future for Natural Gas 1.1  Energy, GDP, and Society1.2  The Energy Mix1.3  Electrical Load Characteristic1.4  Matching Power Supply to Demand1.5. The 100% Renewable Energy Objective and the Cost and Security Roadblocks1.6  Energy Policy in a CO2 Sensitive Power Future1.7  Strategic  Importance of Natural Gas in the New Energy Paradigm1.8  Natural Gas Backstop to Renewable EnergyReferencesChapter 2Economic Characteristics of Deepwater Natural Gas Hydrate 2.1  Natural Gas Hydrate2.1.1  NGH as a Natural Gas Storage Media2.1.2  Solution Concentration Controls Growth2.1.2.1  Gas Transport within a Sediment Pile2.1.3  NGH Stability2.1.4  The Gas Hydrate Stability Zone2.1.5  The Seafloor may not be the Top of the GHSZ:2.2  NGH Stability within the GHSZ: Implications for Gas Production Cost2.3  Geology Controls NGH Paragenesis2.4  Production-Oriented Classification of Oceanic NGH Concentrations in Permeable Strata2.5  NGH may be the Largest Natural Gas Resource on Earth2.6  Other NGH Concentrations that May Be Producable2.6.1  NGH Vent Plugs2.6.2  Stratabound Secondary Porosity NGH Concentrations2.6.3  Blake Ridge Type Deposits2.7  NGH in the Spectrum of Conventional and Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources2.8  Low Environmental Risk Character of the NGH Resource2.9  Could Low-Salinity Water be a Valuable Byproduct?ReferencesChapter 3Exploration for Deepwater Natural Gas Hydrate 3.1  NGH Exploration3.1.1  Deepwater and Ultra-deepwater3.1.2  Basin modeling3.1.3  NGH Prospect Zone.3.2  NGH Petroleum System Analysis3.2.1  NGH and Conventional Hydrocarbon System Analysis3.3  Marine Sediment Host for NGH deposits3.4. NGH Reservoir Hydrocarbon Component Expectations3.4.1  Closed NGH Concentrations3.4.2  Open NGH Concentrations3.5  NGH Exploration Methods3.5.1  Seismic Survey & Analysis3.5.1.1  BSR (Bottom Simulating Reflector)3.5.2  Ocean Bottom Seismometers3.5.3  Electromagnetic (EM) Survey3.5.4.  NGH Ground-Truthing:  Drilling3.5.4.1  Picking Drilling Targets3.5.5  State of NGH Exploration3.6  NGH Exploration Potential: Glacial Period Sea Level Low Stands in the Mediterranean and  Black Seas3.6.1  The Mediterranean Sea3.6.2  Lowstand in the Black Sea: Sand Transfer to the Slopes3.6.3  GHSZ and NGH Prospectability in the Mediterranean and Black Seas3.7  National NGH Programs and Company Interest3.7.1  Exploration Activity in Regions and Countries3.8  Frontier RegionsReferencesChapter 4Potential High Quality Reservoir Sediments in the Gas Hydrate Stability Zone4.1  High Quality Sand Reservoirs on Continental Margin.4.2  Subsided Rift-Related Sediments 4.3  Paralic Reservoirs4.4  Aeolian - Sabkha Reservoirs4.5  Contourites4.6  Sequence Stratigraphy-Related Marine Sequences4.7 The Special Case of High Quality Reservoir Potential in the Mediterranean and Black Seas4.8  Exploration for High Quality ReservoirsReferencesChapter 5Valuation of NGH Deposits5.1 Petrogenesis5.1  Mineralization Grade5.2  Valuation5.2.1  Regional Estimates: Shelf or Basin Analysis5.2.2  Reservoir Analysis5.2.3  D Body Analysis5.2.4  Cell Analysis5.2.5 Water in the NGH Reservoir5.3  Geophysical Characterization of NGH Deposit Settings5.4  The Creaming CurveReferencesChapter 6Deepwater Natural Gas Hydrate Innovation Opportunities6.1  NGH Technology Opportunities6.2  Exploration Opportunities6.3  Drilling6.3.1  Material Requirements6.3.2  Geotechnical Attributes & Reservoir Stability6.3.3  Wellbore Stability6.3.4  Drilling Depths, Pressures and Temperatures6.4  Production Opportunities6.4.1  Temperature and Pressure:  Production Hazard Potential6.4.2  Production Containment; Leak-Proof Production from NGH6.5  Operations on the Seafloor6.6  Environmental Security6.7  Lightweight Exploration and Production6.8  Summary of NGH Opportunity Issues and ConclusionsReferencesChapter 7Leveraging Technology for NGH Development and Production 7.1  The Curve of Technology and Innovation7.2  Moving to the Seafloor: Subsea Industrial Sites7.3  Background Technology Trends7.3.1  Convergence of AUVs, ROVs and Robotization of Seafloor Industrial Sites7.3.2  Preparation of Seafloor Industrial Sites7.3.3  Power Systems.7.3.4  Data Acquisition and Management7.3.5  Long Range Communications7.3.6  Conventional Drilling: Ships and Semisubmersibles7.4  Drilling7.4.1  Riserless Drilling7.4.2  Steerable Drilling Systems7.4.3  Dual Gradient Drilling /Managed Pressure Drilling7.4.4  Seafloor Hydraulic Units7.4.5  Advanced Drilling Tools7.4.6  Narrow Bore and Rigless Drilling7.4.7  Inclined and Horizontal Well Bores7.4.8  Coiled Tube Drilling7.4.9  Multi-Pad and 'Octopus' Drilling7.5  Production Issues7.5.1  Gas Scrubbing, Separation, and Compression / Artificial Lift7.5.2  Sand Control7.5.3  Flow Assurance7.5.4  Floating Gas Compression and Transport for Stranded Gas7.5.5  Water Injection/Extraction Pumps7.5.6  Realtime Monitoring of Reservoir Condtions7. 6  Modularization of Apparatus7. 7  Leveraging of Conventional TechnologyChapter 8New Technology for NGH Development and Production8.1  New Technology for the Next Step in NGH Development8.2  Exploration8.3  Drilling8.3.1  NGH Drilling Issues and Objectives8.3.1.1  Seafloor Worksite for NGH-Specific Drilling8.3.1.2  Seawater as Drilling Fluid8.3.2  Active Tethered Drilling8.3.3  Active Bottom Hole Assemblies8.3.3.1  Positioning Drilling Units8.3.3.2  Maneuvering for Super-Directional Drilling8.3.3.3  Drilling Tools, Wellbore Width Control, and Sidetracks8.3.3.4  Reservoir and Environs Stability8.3.4  NGH Well Conventional Casing Options8.3.5  Active Wellbore Lining8.3.5.1  Examples of Liner Systems8.3.5.2  Special Section Liners8.3.6  Wellbore Geometry8.4  Production Issues8.4.1  Sand and Sediment Fines Production8.4 2  Produced Water8.4.3  Gas / Water Separation8.4.4  Reservoir Management8.4.5  Flow Assurance8.4.6  Production Risers / Pipelines8.4.7  Communications, Monitoring, and Active Reservoir Control8.5  Well Abandonment8.6  NGH as a Geotechnical Material8.7  Role of Intellectual Property8.8  Technology Readiness Levels (TRL)8.10  Optimizing Leveraged and Innovative Technology for NGH DevelopmentReferencesChapter 9Offshore Operations and Logistics 9.1.  NGH Exploration and Production Operations9.2  Access9.3  Open Oceanic Regions9.4  Arctic Ocean9.4.1  E&P Operation enablement9.4.2  Factors determining icebreaker requirements9.4.3  Eurasian Icebreaker fleet9.4.4  North American Arctic access9.4.5  Search and Rescue (SAR)9.4.6  Arctic Spill Response9.5  Other Frontier AreasReferencesChapter 10Energy Resource Risk Factors 10.1  Factoring Risk into Development of Energy Resources10.2  Risk Factors of Natural Gas Resource Types10.2.1  Gas Purity10.2.2  Sediment Host10.2.3  Flows Under Own Pressure10.2.4  Recovery Techniques10.2.5  Injection of Materials and Water Required10.2.6  Temperature and Pressure10.2.7  Impact on Water Resources10.2.8  Water & Air Quality Risk10.2.9  Blowout Risk & Atmospheric Greenhouse Feedback Potential10.2.10  Reservoir and production performance10.3  Risk of Overdependence on Natural Gas 10.4  Environmental Risk to Energy Projects and Production10.5  NGH Environmental Risk10.5.1  Tracking of Ocean Environmental Impact10.6  Geohazards10.7  Risks of Non-NGH Energy Sources10.8  Regulations, Leasing, Tax Matters, and Law10.9  Energy Prices10.10  Business Cycles10.11  Exploration Risk10.12  New Technology Risk10.13  Downstream Issues and Risk Factors10.13.1  Natural Gas Hydrate Resource Cycle10.13.2  Synthetic Implications of NGH used as a storage and transport media10.14  Safety Management10.15  Risk-Cost-Benefit Analysis10.16.  DiscussionReferencesChapter 11Elements of Commerciality 11.1  State of the Industry11.2  Conventional and Shale Gas and Oil Dominate Markets11.3  Underlying Economics of the Natural Gas Commodity11.3.1  Funding NGH E&P; lessons from the Shale Patch11.4  Supply, Demand and Natural Gas Resources and Markets11.5  The Emerging World Gas Market11.6  A World Price for Natural Gas11.7  NGH Factors11.7.1  NGH Conversion Techniques11.7.2  Production Rates11.7.3  Permeability in a NGH Concentration and its Significance for NGH Conversion and Gas Production11.7.3.1  Does Concentrated NGH have Micro-Permeability?11.7.4  Production Rate Profiles11.7.4.1  Pressure Management Summary11.7.5  Infrastructure11.7.6  Solution for Stranded Gas11.8.  How Soon NGH?References