Methane Hydrate Act Program Drivers Program Goals R&D Projects Program Participants

At present, the United States relies on the accelerated use of natural gas to simultaneously achieve aggressive economic and environmental goals. Fundamental to this strategy is an abundant and affordable supply of domestic natural gas. However, there are increasing concerns about the long-term certainty of this supply. A new source of natural gas could be necessary in the coming decades—and that new source may be methane hydrates.

From 1982 to1992, the DOE invested over $8 million dollars to build a foundation of basic knowledge about the distribution and physical/chemical nature of naturally-occurring methane hydrates. This initial phase of work ended as priorities shifted to more near-term exploration and production R&D. However, findings in the late 1990s, both in the U.S. and overseas, indicated that the issues surrounding methane hydrates required immediate federal attention. Consequently, in 1997, the DOE initiated the planning for a multi-agency national gas hydrate R&D program. Two workshops were conducted in 1998 and resulted in the publication of “A Strategy for Methane Hydrate Research and Development” [PDF-642KB]. This document was followed in 1999 by the “National Methane Hydrate Multi-year R&D Program Plan” [PDF-144KB]. In 2000, the Federal Government determined that a nationally-coordinated, collaborative effort lead by the DOE was needed, and therefore signed into law the “Methane Hydrate Research and Development Act of 2000”. Subsequently, in August 2000, DOE hosted a Gulf of Mexico Hydrates R&D Planning Workshop in cooperation with Chevron Petroleum Technology Company to develop a plan to address hydrate R&D needs in the Gulf of Mexico. The workshop results were used to formulate a plan of action that served as a framework for subsequent industry and government collaboration in R&D activities targeting domestic marine hydrate occurrences.

Since 2000, the National Methane Hydrate R&D Program has supported a wide range of laboratory, engineering, and field projects aimed at improving our understanding of the nature of hydrates, hydrate-bearing sediments, and the interaction between the global methane hydrate reservoir and the world's oceans and atmosphere. This effort has focused on two key energy supply goals: 1) efforts such as our project with the Gulf of Mexico Gas Hydrates JIP, to ensure the safety of deep-water oil and gas E&P operations that require drilling through overlying marine hydrate deposits; and 2) developing the knowledge and technology base to allow commercial production of methane from domestic hydrate deposits by the year 2015, beginning with Alaska North Slope and our projects with BP Exploration (Alaska) and Anadarko. In addition, the program has co-sponsored with MMS and NOAA a program to establish a permanent sea-floor monitoring station, and has supported a variety of international hydrates research efforts. .

Going forward, the program will pursue its goals through allied and focused investigations by the nation's leading researchers on all fronts of the methane hydrate issue. The program will continue to sponsor efforts in the laboratory to provide new insights and new tools to bring to bear on the studies of energy potential, safety, and environmental implications being pursued in the field. As new data are collected, they will be used to further test and improve computer programs designed to model the behavior of methane hydrate relative to both natural and induced changes in its environment. These models will be critical in assessing the role of natural hydrate in seafloor stability, global climate, and future energy supplies. Please use the links above to learn more about the program's goals, organization, and participants.

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