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Timothy S. Collett

Publications and source records attributed to Timothy S. Collett.

90 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
USGS2008

Scientific objectives of the Gulf of Mexico gas hydrate JIP leg II drilling

The Gulf of Mexico Methane Hydrate Joint Industry Project (JIP) has been performing research on marine gas hydrates since 2001 and is sponsored by both the JIP members and the U.S. Department of Energy. In 2005, the JIP drilled the Atwater Valley and Keathley Canyon exploration blocks in the Gulf of Mexico to acquire downhole logs and recover cores in silt- and clay-dominated sediments interpreted to contain gas hydrate based on analysis of existing 3-D seismic data prior to drilling. The new 2007-2009 phase of logging and coring, which is described in this paper, will concentrate on gas hydrate-bearing sands in the Alaminos Canyon, Green Canyon, and Walker Ridge protraction areas. Locations were selected to target higher permeability, coarser-grained lithologies (e.g., sands) that have the potential for hosting high saturations of gas hydrate and to assist the U.S. Minerals Management Service with its assessment of gas hydrate resources in the Gulf of Mexico. This paper discusses the scientific objectives for drilling during the upcoming campaign and presents the results from analyzing existing seismic and well log data as part of the site selection process. Alaminos Canyon 818 has the most complete data set of the selected blocks, with both seismic data and comprehensive downhole log data consistent with the occurrence of gas hydrate-bearing sands. Preliminary analyses suggest that the Frio sandstone just above the base of the gas hydrate stability zone may have up to 80% of the available sediment pore space occupied by gas hydrate. The proposed sites in the Green Canyon and Walker Ridge areas are also interpreted to have gas hydrate-bearing sands near the base of the gas hydrate stability zone, but the choice of specific drill sites is not yet complete. The Green Canyon site coincides with a 4-way closure within a Pleistocene sand unit in an area of strong gas flux just south of the Sigsbee Escarpment. The Walker Ridge site is characterized by a sand-prone sedimentary section that rises stratigraphically across the base of the gas hydrate stability zone and that has seismic indicators of gas hydrate.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2008

Methane hydrates

Gas hydrate is a solid, naturally occurring substance consisting predominantly of methane gas and water. Recent scientific drilling programs in Japan, Canada, the United States, Korea and India have demonstrated that gas hydrate occurs broadly and in a variety of forms in shallow sediments of the outer continental shelves and in Arctic regions. Field, laboratory and numerical modelling studies conducted to date indicate that gas can be extracted from gas hydrates with existing production technologies, particularly for those deposits in which the gas hydrate exists as pore-filling grains at high saturation in sand-rich reservoirs. A series of regional resource assessments indicate that substantial volumes of gas hydrate likely exist in sand-rich deposits. Recent field programs in Japan, Canada and in the United States have demonstrated the technical viability of methane extraction from gas-hydrate-bearing sand reservoirs and have investigated a range of potential production scenarios. At present, basic reservoir depressurisation shows the greatest promise and can be conducted using primarily standard industry equipment and procedures. Depressurisation is expected to be the foundation of future production systems; additional processes, such as thermal stimulation, mechanical stimulation and chemical injection, will likely also be integrated as dictated by local geological and other conditions. An innovative carbon dioxide and methane swapping technology is also being studied as a method to produce gas from select gas hydrate deposits. In addition, substantial additional volumes of gas hydrate have been found in dense arrays of grain-displacing veins and nodules in fine-grained, clay-dominated sediments; however, to date, no field tests, and very limited numerical modelling, have been conducted with regard to the production potential of such accumulations. Work remains to further refine: (1) the marine resource volumes within potential accumulations that can be produced through exploratory drilling programs; (2) the tools for gas hydrate detection and characterisation from remote sensing data; (3) the details of gas hydrate reservoir production behaviour through additional, well-monitored and longer duration field tests and (4) the understanding of the potential environmental impacts of gas hydrate resource development. The results of future production tests, in the context of varying market and energy supply conditions around the globe, will be the key to determine the ultimate timing and scale of the commercial production of natural gas from gas hydrates.

Book chapter↗
USGS2008

Physical properties of sediments from Keathley Canyon and Atwater Valley, JIP Gulf of Mexico gas hydrate drilling program

Physical property measurements and consolidation behavior are different between sediments from Atwater Valley and Keathley Canyon in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Void ratio and bulk density of Atwater Valley sediment from a seafloor mound (holes ATM1 and ATM2) show little effective stress (or depth) dependence to 27 meters below seafloor (mbsf), perhaps owing to fluidized transport through the mound itself with subsequent settling onto the seafloor or mound flanks. Off-mound sediments (hole AT13-2) have bulk physical properties that are similar to mound sediments above 27 mbsf, but void ratio and porosity decrease below that depth. Properties of shallow (<50 mbsf) Keathley Canyon sediments (KC151-3) change with increasing effective stress (or depth) compared to Atwater Valley, but vary little below that depth. Organic carbon is present in concentrations between typical near-shore and deep-sea sediments. Organic carbon-to-nitrogen ratios suggest that the organic matter contained in Atwater Valley off-mound and mound sites came from somewhat different sources. The difference in organic carbon-to-nitrogen ratios between Atwater Valley and Keathley Canyon is more pronounced. At Keathley Canyon a more terrigenous source of the organic matter is indicated. Grain sizes are typically silty clay or clay within the two basins reflecting similar transport energy. However, the range in most shallow sediment properties is significantly different between the two basins. Bulk density profiles agree with logging results in Atwater Valley and Keathley Canyon. Agreement between lab-derived and logging-derived properties supports using logging data to constrain bulk physical properties where cores were not collected.

Marine and Petroleum Geology↗
USGS2008

Site selection for DOE/JIP gas hydrate drilling in the northern Gulf of Mexico

In the late spring of 2008, the Chevron-led Gulf of Mexico Gas Hydrate Joint Industry Project (JIP) expects to conduct an exploratory drilling and logging campaign to better understand gas hydrate-bearing sands in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The JIP Site Selection team selected three areas to test alternative geological models and geophysical interpretations supporting the existence of potential high gas hydrate saturations in reservoir-quality sands. The three sites are near existing drill holes which provide geological and geophysical constraints in Alaminos Canyon (AC) lease block 818, Green Canyon (GC) 955, and Walker Ridge (WR) 313. At the AC818 site, gas hydrate is interpreted to occur within the Oligocene Frio volcaniclastic sand at the crest of a fold that is shallow enough to be in the hydrate stability zone. Drilling at GC955 will sample a faulted, buried Pleistocene channel-levee system in an area characterized by seafloor fluid expulsion features, structural closure associated with uplifted salt, and abundant seismic evidence for upward migration of fluids and gas into the sand-rich parts of the sedimentary section. Drilling at WR313 targets ponded sheet sands and associated channel/levee deposits within a minibasin, making this a non-structural play. The potential for gas hydrate occurrence at WR313 is supported by shingled phase reversals consistent with the transition from gas-charged sand to overlying gas-hydrate saturated sand. Drilling locations have been selected at each site to 1) test geological methods and models used to infer the occurrence of gas hydrate in sand reservoirs in different settings in the northern Gulf of Mexico; 2) calibrate geophysical models used to detect gas hydrate sands, map reservoir thicknesses, and estimate the degree of gas hydrate saturation; and 3) delineate potential locations for subsequent JIP drilling and coring operations that will collect samples for comprehensive physical property, geochemical and other analyses

Gulf of Mexico↗
USGS2008

Assessment of gas hydrate resources on the North Slope, Alaska, 2008

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently completed the first assessment of the undiscovered technically recoverable gas-hydrate resources on the North Slope of Alaska. Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the USGS estimates that there are about 85 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of undiscovered, technically recoverable gas resources within gas hydrates in northern Alaska.

Alaska↗
USGS2008

Assessing gas-hydrate prospects on the North Slope of Alaska—Theoretical considerations

Gas-hydrate resource assessment on the Alaska North Slope using 3-D and 2-D seismic data involved six important steps: (1) determining the top and base of the gas-hydrate stability zone, (2) 'tying' well log information to seismic data through synthetic seismograms, (3) differentiating ice from gas hydrate in the permafrost interval, (4) developing an acoustic model for the reservoir and seal, (5) developing a method to estimate gas-hydrate saturation and thickness from seismic attributes, and (6) assessing the potential gas-hydrate prospects from seismic data based on potential migration pathways, source, reservoir quality, and other relevant geological information. This report describes the first five steps in detail using well logs and provides theoretical backgrounds for resource assessments carried out by the U.S. Geological Survey. Measured and predicted P-wave velocities enabled us to tie synthetic seismograms to the seismic data. The calculated gas-hydrate stability zone from subsurface wellbore temperature data enabled us to focus our effort on the most promising depth intervals in the seismic data. A typical reservoir in this area is characterized by the P-wave velocity of 1.88 km/s, porosity of 42 percent, and clay volume content of 5 percent, whereas seal sediments encasing the reservoir are characterized by the P-wave velocity of 2.2 km/s, porosity of 32 percent, and clay volume content of 20 percent. Because the impedance of a reservoir without gas hydrate is less than that of the seal, a complex amplitude variation with respect to gas-hydrate saturation is predicted, namely polarity change, amplitude blanking, and high seismic amplitude (a bright spot). This amplitude variation with gas-hydrate saturation is the physical basis for the method used to quantify the resource potential of gas hydrates in this assessment.

Scientific Investigations Report↗
USGS2006

A method of Shaly sand correction for estimating gas hydrate saturations using downhole electrical resistivity log data

Estimation of the amount of nonconductive and conductive constituents in the pore space of sediments, using electrical resistivity logs, generally loses accuracy when clays are present in the reservoir. Many different methods and clay models have been proposed to account for the conductivity of clay (for example, the shaly sand correction). In this study, the Simandoux model is employed to correct for the clay effect in order to more accurately estimate gas hydrate saturations. This study utilizes the fact that the effect of clay on the resistivity of a sediment is manifested in the Archie constants a and m, values of which are generally a = 1 and m = 2 for clean-sand reservoirs. Results of the study indicate that as the clay content increases, a also increases whereas m decreases. On the basis of the relationship between the Archie constants a and m with respect to the clay amount, a method of correcting for the clay effect on the estimation of water saturation is proposed. This method works well if the relationship between porosity and resistivity on a log-log plot is approximately linear and if accurate Archie constants a and m for clean sand are known. However, because of the linearity condition, it is difficult to apply the method to low-porosity reservoirs. Gas-hydrate-bearing sediments generally have high porosities because of their shallow depth of occurrence, so the method can be effectively applied in estimating gas hydrate saturations.

Scientific Investigations Report↗
USGS2005

Controls on the physical properties of gas-hydrate-bearing sediments because of the interaction between gas hydrate and porous media

Physical properties of gas-hydrate-bearing sediments depend on the pore-scale interaction between gas hydrate and porous media as well as the amount of gas hydrate present. Well log measurements such as proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxation and electromagnetic propagation tool (EPT) techniques depend primarily on the bulk volume of gas hydrate in the pore space irrespective of the pore-scale interaction. However, elastic velocities or permeability depend on how gas hydrate is distributed in the pore space as well as the amount of gas hydrate. Gas-hydrate saturations estimated from NMR and EPT measurements are free of adjustable parameters; thus, the estimations are unbiased estimates of gas hydrate if the measurement is accurate. However, the amount of gas hydrate estimated from elastic velocities or electrical resistivities depends on many adjustable parameters and models related to the interaction of gas hydrate and porous media, so these estimates are model dependent and biased. NMR, EPT, elastic-wave velocity, electrical resistivity, and permeability measurements acquired in the Mallik 5L-38 well in the Mackenzie Delta, Canada, show that all of the well log evaluation techniques considered provide comparable gas-hydrate saturations in clean (low shale content) sandstone intervals with high gas-hydrate saturations. However, in shaly intervals, estimates from log measurement depending on the pore-scale interaction between gas hydrate and host sediments are higher than those estimates from measurements depending on the bulk volume of gas hydrate.

Scientific Investigations Report↗
USGS2001

Gas hydrate estimation error associated with uncertainties of measurements and parameters

Downhole log measurements such as acoustic or electrical resistivity logs are often used to estimate in situ gas hydrate concentrations in sediment pore space. Estimation errors owing to uncertainties associated with downhole measurements and the parameters for estimation equations (weight in the acoustic method and Archie?s parameters in the resistivity method) are analyzed in order to assess the accuracy of estimation of gas hydrate concentration. Accurate downhole measurements are essential for accurate estimation of the gas hydrate concentrations in sediments, particularly at low gas hydrate concentrations and when using acoustic data. Estimation errors owing to measurement errors, except the slowness error, decrease as the gas hydrate concentration increases and as porosity increases. Estimation errors owing to uncertainty in the input parameters are small in the acoustic method and may be signifi cant in the resistivity method at low gas hydrate concentrations.

Bulletin↗
USGS1998

Well log evaluation of gas hydrate saturations

The amount of gas sequestered in gas hydrates is probably enormous, but estimates are highly speculative due to the lack of previous quantitative studies. Gas volumes that may be attributed to a gas hydrate accumulation within a given geologic setting are dependent on a number of reservoir parameters; one of which, gas-hydrate saturation, can be assessed with data obtained from downhole well logging devices. The primary objective of this study was to develop quantitative well-log evaluation techniques which will permit the calculation of gas-hydrate saturations in gas-hydrate-bearing sedimentary units. The `standard' and `quick look' Archie relations (resistivity log data) yielded accurate gas-hydrate and free-gas saturations within all of the gas hydrate accumulations assessed in the field verification phase of the study. Compressional wave acoustic log data have been used along with the Timur, modified Wood, and the Lee weighted average acoustic equations to calculate accurate gas-hydrate saturations in this study. The well log derived gas-hydrate saturations calculated in the field verification phase of this study, which range from as low as 2% to as high as 97%, confirm that gas hydrates represent a potentially important source of natural gas.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1998

Hydrates contain vast store of world gas resources

The discovery of large gas hydrate accumulations on the North Slope of Alaska and off the U.S. southeast coast has heightened interest in gas hydrates as a possible energy resource of the future. However, significant geological uncertainties and possibly insurmountable technical issues need to be resolved before gas hydrates can be counted as a viable option for future, affordable supplies of natural gas.

Oil & Gas Journal↗
USGS1997

Gas hydrate resources of northern Alaska

Large amounts of natural gas, composed mainly of methane, can occur in arctic sedimentary basins in the form of gas hydrates under appropriate temperature and pressure conditions. Gas hydrates are solids, composed of rigid cages of water molecules that trap molecules of gas. These substances are regarded as a potential unconventional source of natural gas because of their enormous gas-storage capacity. Most published gas hydrate resource estimates are highly simplified and based on limited geological data. The gas hydrate resource assessment for northern Alaska presented in this paper is based on a "play analysis" scheme, in which geological factors controlling the accumulation and preservation of gas hydrates are individually evaluated and risked for each hydrate play. This resource assessment identified two gas hydrate plays; the in-place gas resources within the gas hydrates of northern Alaska are estimated to range from 6.7 to 66.8 trillion cubic metres of gas (236 to 2,357 trillion cubic feet of gas), at the 0.50 and 0.05 probability levels respectively. The mean in-place hydrate resource estimate for northern Alaska is calculated to be 16.7 trillion cubic metres of gas (590 trillion cubic feet of gas). If this assessment is valid, the amount of natural gas stored as gas hydrates in northern Alaska could be almost seven times larger then the estimated total remaining recoverable conventional natural gas resources in the entire United States.

Alaska↗
USGS1997

Gas hydrates in the Messoyakha gas field of the West Siberian Basin - a re-examination of the geologic evidence

The amount of natural gas within the gas hydrate accumulations of the world is believed to greatly exceed the volume of known conventional natural gas reserves. The hydrocarbon production history of the Russian Messoyakha field, located in the West Siberian Basin, has been used as evidence that gas hydrates are an immediate source of natural gas that can be produced by conventional means. Re-examination of available geologic, geochemical, and hydrocarbon production data suggests, however, that gas hydrates may not have contributed to gas production in the Messoyakha field. More field and laboratory studies are needed to assess the historical contribution of gas hydrate production in the Messoyakha field.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1992

Molecular and isotopic analyses of the hydrocarbon gases within gas hydrate-bearing rock units of the Prudhoe Bay-Kuparuk River area in northern Alaska

Gas hydrates, which are crystalline substances of water molecules that encase gas molecules, have the potential for being a significant source of natural gas. World-wide estimates for the amount of gas contained in hydrates range from 1.1 x 105 to 2.7 x 108 trillion cubic feet. Gas hydrates exist in many Arctic regions, including the North Slope of Alaska. The two primary objectives of the U.S. Geological Survey Gas Hydrate Research Project are (1) to map the distribution of in-situ gas hydrates on the North Slope of Alaska, and (2) to evaluate the geologic parameters that control the distribution of these gas hydrates. To aid in this study, British Petroleum Exploration, ARCO Alaska, Exxon Company USA, and the Continental Oil Company allowed the U.S. Geological Survey to collect geochemical samples from drilling North Slope production wells. Molecular analysis of gaseous drill cutting and free-flowing gas samples from 10 production wells drilled in the Prudhoe Bay, Kuparuk River, and Milne Point oil fields indicates that methane is the primary hydrocarbon gas in the gas hydrate-bearing stratigraphic units. Isotopic data for several of these rock units indicate that the methane within the inferred gas hydrate occurences originated from both microbial and thermogenic processes.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1984

QUANTIFICATION OF IN-SITU GAS HYDRATES WITH WELL LOGS.

This study evaluates in detail the expected theoretical log responses and the actual log responses within one stratigraphically controlled hydrate horizon in six wells spaced throughout the Kuparuk Oil Field. Detailed examination of the neutron porosity and sonic velocity responses within the horizon is included. In addition, the theoretical effect of the presence of hydrates on the neutron porosity and sonic velocity devices has been examined in order to correct for such an effect on the calculation of formation properties such as porosity and hydrate saturation. Also presented in the paper is a technique which allows the conclusive identification of a potential hydrate occurrence.

Conference Paper↗