In testimony today, Alaska Division of Oil and Gas Director Mark Myers asked the U.S. Senate Energy Committee for $70 million over the next five years to conduct field tests of the production of gas hydrates in a prototype development with the intention of demonstrating the commerciality of gas hydrates production from Alaska’s North Slope.<p>
Myers said the only testing on gas hydrates to date has been done with the help of government funding, pointing to the fact that the largest source of that funding comes from the federal Methane Hydrate Act which expires this year.<p>
Alaska, he said, has been working with a team from industry, government and the university which is taking the first steps towards the use of gas hydrates by investigating known deposits in the central North Slope. The economics of the gas hydrates look good but uncertainties remain related to commercial production.