Another methane hydrate test well planned for the North Slope

Alan Bailey

Petroleum News

Apparently BP is planning to drill another methane hydrate test well on Alaska’s North Slope. On Nov. 15, during a talk to the Resource Development Council’s annual conference, Tom Walsh, managing partner of Petrotechnical Resources of Alaska, commented that the plan is to start drilling the well in December and to use the well to test the long-term production of natural gas from the hydrates. Both BP and ConocoPhillips have been involved with the U.S. Department of Energy in North Slope methane hydrate research. The Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. has also been involved in the research.

According to data published by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, the well is called the Hydrate 01 well. The well location appears to be on the western side of the Prudhoe Bay unit. BP is operator for the well, but there is no public information about how the well would be funded.

Methane hydrate is a solid in which molecules of methane, the primary component of natural gas, are held inside a lattice of water molecules. Huge quantities of the material, which remains stable within a certain range of relatively high pressures and low temperatures, are known to exist around the base of the permafrost under the North Slope. The material represents a major gas resource with the possibility of commercial production, should a viable production technique be developed. Production would involve some combination of reducing the pressure or increasing the temperature around the hydrates.

Several methane hydrate test wells, including two on the North Slope, have been drilled in various parts of the world in the past. So far, although short-term gas production from hydrates has been demonstrated, no one has demonstrated sustained production. In addition to the demonstrating the technical feasibility of achieving gas production over extended periods of time, it would be necessary to assess the development and production costs, to determine whether production is economically viable.

- ALAN BAILEY