Gas Hydrates: Resource and Hazard

Folger, Peter

Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service.

关键词: Energy;    Gas;    Natural gas;    Natural gas reserves;    Gas in submerged lands;   

RP-ID  :  RS22990
RP-ID  :  RS22990_2010May25

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

This report discusses gas hydrates, which are potentially huge resource of natural gas for the United States. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated that there are about 85 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of technically recoverable gas hydrates in northern Alaska. The Minerals Management Service estimated a mean value of 21,000 TCF of in-place gas hydrates in the Gulf of Mexico. By comparison, total U.S. natural gas consumption is about 23 TCF annually. Gas hydrates are both a potential resource and a risk, representing a significant hazard to conventional oil and gas drilling and production operations, and to date gas hydrates have no confirmed commercial production.