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Aerial photograph of the Mallik location site. (Larger Image) |
An international consortium, including the USGS, the Department of Energy, Canada, Japan, India, Germany, and the energy industry conducted test drilling at a site known as Mallik, in the Mackenzie Delta of the Canadian Arctic. This location was chosen because it has one of the highest concentrations of known gas hydrates in the world.
"Although the Mallik 2002 program began with this handful of researchers, the realization of the program over the course of its four-year life required the dedicated efforts of a diverse team. More than 200 scientists from 50 research institutes, consultancies, and companies participated in the Mallik program. Much of the research was being undertaken for the first time, and emphasis was placed from the beginning on planning and design of the science and engineering program. Co-ordination and logistics were the keys to success." (GSC Bulletin 585).
The partners and participants in the Mallik 2002 Gas Hydrate Production Research Well program are pleased to publicly release the results of the first modern, fully integrated field study and production testing of a natural gas hydrate accumulation: These results and their analyses form the leading scientific and engineering data set for the realization of the energy resource potential of this non-conventional global source of methane gas.