Characterization and Quantification of the Methane Hydrate Resource Potential Associated with the Barrow Gas Field

• Main Authors: Thomas Walsh, Peter Stokes, Manmath P, Tom Morahan, David Greet, Steve Macrae, Praveen Singh, Shirish Patil
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: Barrow; Methane hydrate; north slope; Alaska
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.192.6681; http://www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/oil-gas/publications/2008_ICGH/ICGH_5436_42962.pdf

The North Slope of Alaska has significant methane hydrate resource potential, and results of previous studies suggest that gas hydrates exist in the Barrow area. Currently, gas from three producing fields provides heating and electricity for Barrow, the economic, transportation, and administrative center of the North Slope Borough. As energy demands grow, it is important to characterize, quantify, and evaluate the potential impact of the postulated gas hydrate accumulation to guide future development, and assess the resource value of the hydrates. The Barrow Gas Fields (BGF) provide an excellent opportunity to study the interaction between a producing free gas reservoir and an overlying hydrate accumulation. A phased research program is underway, funded jointly by the U.S. Department of Energy- NETL and the North Slope Borough to: prepare a research management plan; establish a context for the study based on prior and ongoing research; model the hydrate stability zone associated with the three BGF's; characterize the reservoir properties; model production characteristics of the fields; and select an optimum hydrate test well location in Barrow. Modeling work completed in Phase 1A of the study supports the existence of methane hydrates in association with the BGF's. Phase 1A