Gas Production From a Cold, Stratigraphically Bounded Hydrate Deposit at the Mount Elbert Site, North Slope, Alaska

As part of an effort to identify suitable targets for a planned long-term field test, we investigate by means of numerical simulation the gas production potential from unit D, a stratigraphically bounded (Class 3) permafrost-associated hydrate occurrence penetrated in the ount Elbert well on North S...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine and petroleum geology 2009-09 (doi: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2010.01.005)
Main Authors: Moridis, G.J., Silpngarmlert, S., Reagan, M. T., Collett, T.S., Zhang, K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
54
58
ALASKA
DEPOSITS
DISSOCIATION
FIELD TESTS
FUELS
HEAT
HYDRATES
PERMAFROST
POTENTIALS
PRODUCTION
SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS
SIMULATION
TARGETS
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0065-0273 K
WELLS
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Summary:As part of an effort to identify suitable targets for a planned long-term field test, we investigate by means of numerical simulation the gas production potential from unit D, a stratigraphically bounded (Class 3) permafrost-associated hydrate occurrence penetrated in the ount Elbert well on North Slope, Alaska. This shallow, low-pressure deposit has high porosities, high intrinsic permeabilities and high hydrate saturations. It has a low temperature because of its proximity to the overlying permafrost. The simulation results indicate that vertical ells operating at a constant bottomhole pressure would produce at very low rates for a very long period. Horizontal wells increase gas production by almost two orders of magnitude, but production remains low. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the initial deposit temperature is y the far the most important factor determining production performance (and the most effective criterion for target selection) because it controls the sensible heat available to fuel dissociation.
ISSN:0264-8172
1873-4073