Mount Elbert Gas Hydrate Stratigraphic Test Well, Alaska North Slope: Overview of scientific and technical program

Hunter, Robert; Collett, Timothy S.; Boswell, Ray; Anderson, B. J.; Digert, Scott A.; Pospisil, Gordon; Baker, Richard; Weeks, Micaela

doi:10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2010.02.015

Cited by 183 publications

(111 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

104

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Choi et al, 2014;Lee et al, 2013;Priest et al, 2009), estimate the smallstrain bulk-, shear-and compressional-moduli as well as the Poisson's ratio (Helgerud et al, 2009;Lee et al, 2010a), and link seismic and well log measurements to in situ hydrate saturations (e.g. Fohrmann and Pecher, 2012;Hunter et al, 2011;Shankar and Riedel, 2014;Shelander et al, 2012). In this study, compressional and shear wave velocities, V p and V s respectively, are collected at zero effective stress in the IPTC, and over a range of effective stresses in the DSC.…”

Section: Small-strain Properties: Wave Velocities and Modulimentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydro-bio-geomechanical properties of hydrate-bearing sediments from Nankai Trough

Santamarina

Dai

Terzariol

et al. 2015

Marine and Petroleum Geology

204

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

a b s t r a c tNatural hydrate-bearing sediments from the Nankai Trough, offshore Japan, were studied using the Pressure Core Characterization Tools (PCCTs) to obtain geomechanical, hydrological, electrical, and biological properties under in situ pressure, temperature, and restored effective stress conditions. Measurement results, combined with index-property data and analytical physics-based models, provide unique insight into hydrate-bearing sediments in situ. Tested cores contain some silty-sands, but are predominantly sandy-and clayey-silts. Hydrate saturations S h range from 0.15 to 0.74, with significant concentrations in the silty-sands. Wave velocity and flexible-wall permeameter measurements on neverdepressurized pressure-core sediments suggest hydrates in the coarser-grained zones, the silty-sands where S h exceeds 0.4, contribute to soil-skeletal stability and are load-bearing. In the sandy-and clayey-silts, where S h < 0.4, the state of effective stress and stress history are significant factors determining sediment stiffness. Controlled depressurization tests show that hydrate dissociation occurs too quickly to maintain thermodynamic equilibrium, and pressureetemperature conditions track the hydrate stability boundary in pure-water, rather than that in seawater, in spite of both the in situ pore water and the water used to maintain specimen pore pressure prior to dissociation being saline. Hydrate dissociation accompanied with fines migration caused up to 2.4% vertical strain contraction. The firstever direct shear measurements on never-depressurized pressure-core specimens show hydratebearing sediments have higher sediment strength and peak friction angle than post-dissociation sediments, but the residual friction angle remains the same in both cases. Permeability measurements made before and after hydrate dissociation demonstrate that water permeability increases after dissociation, but the gain is limited by the transition from hydrate saturation before dissociation to gas saturation after dissociation. In a proof-of-concept study, sediment microbial communities were successfully extracted and stored under high-pressure, anoxic conditions. Depressurized samples of these extractions were incubated in air, where microbes exhibited temperature-dependent growth rates.Published by Elsevier Ltd.

show abstract

Section: Small-strain Properties: Wave Velocities and Modulimentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydro-bio-geomechanical properties of hydrate-bearing sediments from Nankai Trough

Santamarina

Dai

Terzariol

et al. 2015

Marine and Petroleum Geology

204

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…While this programmes drilling, logging, coring, and transient pressure testing was performed at the Mount Elbert site. Oil based drilling was done in which mineral oil-based mud (MOBM) drilling fluid was used, which gave a good visual clue of the extent of fluid invasion, and also confirmed that all waters collected from the samples were formation waters [26]. Samples were cleaned using a Soxhlet extractor with chloroform-methanol azeotrope at a ratio of 87:13, before any test to remove drilling fluid and salts.…”

Section: Outcome From Nghp Expedition 01 and Future Nghp 02mentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Mount Elbert site was selected for drilling and data acquisition after comparative study of 14 sites in Alaska. Alaska Mount Elbert gas hydrate test well project was carried out from February 3-19, 2007 which included the acquisition of pressure transient data from four short-duration open-hole, Schlumberger's wireline modular dynamic testing (MDT) was used for testing dual-packer pressure-drawdown [26]. While this programmes drilling, logging, coring, and transient pressure testing was performed at the Mount Elbert site.…”

Section: Outcome From Nghp Expedition 01 and Future Nghp 02mentioning

confidence: 99%

Field Testing of Gas Hydrates - An Alternative to Conventional Fuels

Arora¹,

Cameotra²,

Balomajumder³

2015

J Pet Environ Biotechnol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…To better understand the potential reservoir response for the locations considered in this assessment, the USGS collaborated with the participants of the International Code Comparison Group (Anderson andothers, 2011a, 2011b) to conduct numerical gas hydrate-production simulations for the idealized Milne Point Unit (MPU), Kuparuk River Unit (KRU), Prudhoe Bay Unit (PBU), and Down-Dip-PBU settings ( fig. 15).…”

Section: B Gas Hydrate Production Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this assessment, a gas hydrate recovery ratio of 85 percent (assuming a well-abandonment pressure 25 percent of hydrostatic) was used to convert the in-place gas volume estimates within each of the 3D seismic-inferred hydrate accumulations to a technically recoverable gas volume (table 3). It is important to emphasize that numerical gas hydrate production simulations (as reviewed by Anderson andothers, 2011a, 2011b) also indicate relatively high gasrecovery ratios for producing gas hydrate accumulations.…”

Section: C Undiscovered Gas Hydrate Accumulations-sizes Of Accumulmentioning

confidence: 99%

National Assessment of Oil and Gas Project: geologic assessment of undiscovered gas hydrate resources on the North Slope, Alaska

Collett¹,

Agena²,

Lee³

et al. 2014

Data Series

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

For more information on the USGS-the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment, visit http://www.usgs.gov or call 1-888-ASK-USGS.For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit http://www.usgs.gov/pubprodTo order this and other USGS information products, visit http://store.usgs.gov Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner.Suggested citation: U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Gas Hydrate Assessment Team, 2013, National Assessment of Oil and Gas ProjectGeologic assessment of undiscovered gas hydrate resources on the North Slope, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Digital Data Series 69-CC, 100 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ds69cc. By U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Gas Hydrate Assessment Team that gas hydrates are a global phenomenon containing potentially huge volumes of gas in terrestrial polar regions and the deep-water portions of most continental margins. Gas hydrates are naturally occurring, ice-like solids in which water molecules trap gas molecules in a cage-like structure known as a clathrate. Although many gases form hydrates in nature, methane hydrate is by far the most common. In 1995, the USGS conducted the first systematic assessment of the in-place natural gas hydrate resources of the United States (Collett, 1995). That study suggests that the amount of gas in the Nation's hydrate accumulations greatly exceeds the volume of known conventional domestic gas resources. The 1995 USGS assessment also estimated that the permafrostassociated gas hydrates on the Alaska North Slope may contain as much as 590 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of in-place gas. Two large gas hydrate accumulations have been identified in the Prudhoe Bay area. The in-place volume of gas estimated within the known gas hydrates in the greater Prudhoe Bay area infrastructure area alone may exceed 100 TCF (Collett, 2002). However, it is important to note that none of the previously published gas hydrate assessments have predicted how much gas could actually be produced from the gas hydrate accumulations in northern Alaska. In recognition of the importance of gas hydrates as a potential energy resource, the USGS and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) entered into an Assistance Agreement in 2002 to assess the volume of gas that could be produced from gas hydrates in northern Alaska. The primary objective of this assessment was to conduct a geology-based analysis of the occurrence of gas hydrates within northern Alaska to determine the role gas hydrate may play as a future domestic-energy resource. This project included three concurrent phases. Phase I focused on the Eileen gas hydrate occurrences in the greater Prudhoe ...

show abstract

Mount Elbert Gas Hydrate Stratigraphic Test Well, Alaska North Slope: Overview of scientific and technical program

Cited by 183 publications

References 27 publications

Hydro-bio-geomechanical properties of hydrate-bearing sediments from Nankai Trough

Hydro-bio-geomechanical properties of hydrate-bearing sediments from Nankai Trough

Field Testing of Gas Hydrates - An Alternative to Conventional Fuels

National Assessment of Oil and Gas Project: geologic assessment of undiscovered gas hydrate resources on the North Slope, Alaska

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About