FROZEN HEAT | Volume 2

2.4 WHERE AND HOWMUCH?

At present, little is known about the details of the global oc- currence of gas hydrates. The pressure and temperature con- ditions for gas hydrates exist broadly across the globe, and substantial amounts have been found both in areas with ma- jor conventional oil and gas accumulations and in areas with- out those accumulations. The preponderance of evidence suggests that gas hydrates will be found on the continental margins, as opposed to the centres of ocean basins.

Global resource volumes are also poorly known. To date, as- sessments of total in-place resources are based on scant data and provide little context to the issue of near-term gas hydrate resource potential, since they generally exclude the localized and anomalous occurrences that are the most favourable tar- gets (Boswell and Collett 2011). Recently, however, focused and regional assessments for the Alaska North Slope (Collett et al. 2008), Arctic northwestern Canada (Osadetz and Chen 2010),

Gas hydrates resource potential by global regions

Gas hydrates resource potential by global regions

Arctic Ocean

Former Soviet Union

Canada

United States

Arctic Ocean

Japan

Europe

China Former Soviet Union

Canada

North Africa

United States

Middle East

Other East Asia

Eastern Africa

India

Other Pacific Asia

Japan

Europe

Western and Central Africa

Other South Asia China

Resource potential Median tcm

North Africa

Middle East

Other East Asia

Oceania

Southern Africa

Eastern Africa

Latin America and the Caribbean

3 2 6

India

Other Pacific Asia

Western and Central Africa

Other South Asia

Southern Ocean

0.1 Resource potential Median tcm

Oceania

Southern Africa

Latin America and the Caribbean

3 2 6

Source: Johnson 2011

Southern Ocean

0.1 Figure 2.4-a: Gas hydrates resource potential by global regions. This figure includes only that subset of global in-place gas hydrates that appear to occur at high concentrations in sand-rich reservoirs, the most likely candidates for development. Source: Johnson 2011.

Source: Johnson 2011

FROZEN HEAT 38