BP Assessing Gas Hydrate Potential

BP has drilled a test well on the North Slope of Alaska to collect samples and assess the potential of gas hydrate as an energy resource. The project is part of an ongoing research partnership between BP and the Department of Energy, which funded the $4.6 million cost of drilling the well (C&EN, Aug. 22, 2005, page 16). The core samples will be distributed to gas hydrate researchers around the country. Government geologists estimate that as much as 450 trillion cu ft of natural gas could be present in hydrates across the North Slope. The challenge is finding the technology to bring commercially viable amounts of the frozen gas to the surface.