Production Modeling of a Potential Methane Hydrate Accumulation on the North Slope of Alaska

Abstract

The feasibility of a pilot production project on the North Slope of Alaska was computed to determine the production potential of a hydrate accumulation. The production of gas from a 1 mile by 4 mile reservoir block containing hydrate underlain by an accumulation of free gas was simulated and the resulting production profiles were analyzed. Results of the simulations indicate that depressurization of the free gas zone reduces the pressure at the gas-hydrate interface below that necessary for hydrate stability and causes the hydrate to dissociate into methane gas and water.

Alaska North Slope regional gas hydrate production modeling forecasts

“…It follows that the best producers would be those wells with moderate hydrate saturations. Those with the highest gas hydrate saturation may become secondary or complementary targets due to diminished ability to propagate a pressure front and induce dissociation (Howe, 2004). As shown in Fig.…”

“…A large fraction of past reservoir modeling efforts (McGuire, 1981;Hong et al, 2003;Howe, 2004) have concentrated on Class 3 hydrate reservoirs in which depressurization is accomplished by production of an underlying gas body. If placed optimally in the reservoir, water production can be minimized by allowing denser water to segregate below the production section of producing wells.…”

“…There has been a great deal of discussion over the effect of free-water saturation on flow characteristics of gas hydrate- bearing sands (Howe, 2004). The Mallik well test experiments and Mt.…”

“…Typical well production profiles were built using a series of numerical simulations with the CMG STARSÔ model (Howe, 2004;Howe et al, 2004). These single well forecasts are based on chemical/thermal reaction equations implemented within a traditional simulation grid.…”

Numerical Simulation of the Depressurization Process of a Natural Gas Hydrate Reservoir: An Attempt at Optimization of Field Operational Factors with Multiple Wells in a Real 3D Geological Model

“…This simulator includes the Kim-Bishnoi kinetic parameters that can describe heat of dissociation and hydrate thermodynamic stability which is the core mechanism for hydrate simulation [30]. Compared with other software that can be adapted to describe hydrate reservoirs, its accuracy and suitability to represent production performance from hydrate deposit in porous media has been validated by many researchers (e.g., [29,31,32]).…”