FROZEN HEAT | Volume 2

4.3 POLICY ISSUES AND OPTIONS

4.3.1 REGULATION FOR SUSTAINABILITY IN A CONVENTIONAL ECONOMIC MODEL Some of the policy issues surrounding gas hydrate develop- ment are related to regulation. Particularly as a consequence of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf of Mex- ico, regulatory considerations related to frontier oil and gas exploration and development have come under increased

scrutiny worldwide (Anderson et al. 2011). At present, there are no regulations specific to gas hydrate production. It is likely that gas hydrate production would be regulated as one of several unconventional gas resources, such as coal bed methane or shale gas.

If current practice is followed, the onus would be on in- dustry to establish the concentration and geographic extent

Photo: Lawrence Hislop, GRID-Arendal

FROZEN HEAT 90