Welcome to the information portal for the National Methane Hydrate R&D Program. Over the past eight years, research carried out under this program has resulted in significant advances in our understanding of methane hydrates, their role in nature, and their potential as a future energy resource. This success is largely due to an unprecedented level of cooperation between federal agencies, industry, national laboratories, and academic institutions.
For a quick introduction to methane hydrate and its potential as a fuel source, please read the 2011 Methane Hydrates Primer. Information on other elements of the program can be found under the remaining Key Links. Read More.
Global Resource Potential of Gas Hydrate – A New Calculation
Detecting Hydrates with Patchy BSR: Krishna-Godavari Basin, India
Electrical Properties of Methane Hydrate+Sediment Mixtures
Newfoundland and Labrador Gas Hydrates Research Program – A Step in the Right Direction
Gas Hydrate R&D in China: Next Stages
Spotlight on Research: Char-Shine Liu, National Taiwan University
Methane Hydrate Production Technologies to be Tested on Alaska's North Slope The U.S. Department of Energy, the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation, and ConocoPhillips will work together to test innovative technologies for producing methane gas from hydrate deposits on the Alaska North Slope. The production tests are the next step in efforts to evaluate the response of gas hydrate reservoirs to alternative gas hydrate production concepts. The tests will provide critical information to inform potential future extended-duration tests.
New Methane Hydrate Primer Now Available! This document provides a simple, but comprehensive, explanation of what methane hydrate is, where it is found, its potential as a fuel source, and the current state of methane hydrate research activities.
Initial Scientific Results Available from DOE/NETL-Sponsored Gas Hydrate Expedition Gas hydrate, a potentially immense energy resource, occurs at high saturations within reservoir-quality sands in the Gulf of Mexico, according to reports released by FE's National Energy Technology Lab. Initial findings from the May 2009 expedition of the Gulf of Mexico Hydrates Joint Industry Project (JIP) detail the extremely valuable and advanced datasets on the various gas hydrate occurrences that were discovered in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. In addition, the reports provide significant new information on the optimal drilling and well control protocols for deep gas hydrate research projects.
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The National Methane Hydrate R&D Program, enabled by the Methane Hydrate Research and Development Act of 2000 and the subsequent 2005 amendment to this Act [PDF], is managed by DOE through the Office of Fossil Energy and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), and the program’s design is formulated through discussions among the six participating federal agencies and in consultation with advisory panels from industry and academia. The brochure, “Interagency Coordination on Methane Hydrates R&D” [PDF] , describes this unique federally funded, collaborative program that is designed to optimize hydrates research, avoid duplication and ensure that no important questions are left unanswered. A second document, an “Interagency Roadmap for Methane Hydrate R&D” [PDF] outlines the goals and objectives of the Program.
In addition to the work being carried out by individual researchers, the Program supports this website, the quarterly Fire in the Ice (FITI) newsletter (which highlights ongoing activities for more than 1000 readers worldwide), and a wide array of meetings and workshops that facilitate the broad and timely dissemination of hydrate research progress to the larger research community and the Nation.
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