“The hydrates have more potential for energy than all other fossil fuels combined,” Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said in a news conference. “This is a huge resource for energy, and one cannot overstate that.”
Natural gas is considered a bridge fuel to cleaner energy because it produces fewer emissions of greenhouse gases, which are blamed for global warming, than coal and involves fewer hazards than nuclear reactors. Coal generates half of the U.S.’s power.
Some environmentalists say hydrate production causes the release of methane, which is a greenhouse gas.
The world currently consumes about 104 trillion cubic feet of natural gas annually and the U.S. uses about 23 trillion cubic feet gas per year, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Hydrates gas could be produced and sold at under $10 per million British thermal unit, and less than that with advancements, said U.S. Geological Survey Director Mark Myers. Natural gas for December delivery cost $6.413 per million Btu at 12:20 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
“We see the potential as well, but we don’t add a hydrocarbon reservoir until we’ve got the size of the resource defined and can be satisfied it can be produced,” said Steve Rinehart, a spokesman for BP Plc in Alaska. “A well where you can get the gas to flow sustainably and affordably hasn’t happened yet.”
About 4 percent of the estimated gas hydrates lies below the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which Congress has placed off limits to drilling.
While Interior Department officials wouldn’t estimate when full scale gas-hydrate production would begin, they said it could be within the next decade if it was proven to be profitable.
Researchers must perform long-term production tests to demonstrate gas hydrates as an economically producible resource, Myers said. “Hydrate accumulation in conventional hydrate reservoirs can be produced with existing technology,” he said.
Much of the promise of Alaskan hydrates depends on whether a pipeline advocated by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice presidential candidate, can be built, Myers said. The $27 billion conduit would carry natural gas from Alaska to U.S. markets.
The Energy Department is spending $12 million on a 27-month study with ConocoPhillips to test the carbon-dioxide injection method. BP also is researching a process using $4.6 million in federal funding. Chevron Corp. is researching hydrates in the Gulf of Mexico.
Author: Jo Amey
