In the late spring of 2008, the Chevron-led Gulf of Mexico Gas Hydrate Joint Industry Project (JIP) expects
to conduct an exploratory drilling and logging campaign to better understand gas hydrate-bearing sands in
the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The JIP Site Selection team selected three areas to test alternative
geological models and geophysical interpretations supporting the existence of potential high gas hydrate
saturations in reservoir-quality sands. The three sites are near existing drill holes which provide geological
and geophysical constraints in Alaminos Canyon (AC) lease block 818, Green Canyon (GC) 955, and
Walker Ridge (WR) 313. At the AC818 site, gas hydrate is interpreted to occur within the Oligocene Frio
volcaniclastic sand at the crest of a fold that is shallow enough to be in the hydrate stability zone. Drilling
at GC955 will sample a faulted, buried Pleistocene channel-levee system in an area characterized by
seafloor fluid expulsion features, structural closure associated with uplifted salt, and abundant seismic
evidence for upward migration of fluids and gas into the sand-rich parts of the sedimentary section.
Drilling at WR313 targets ponded sheet sands and associated channel/levee deposits within a minibasin,
making this a non-structural play. The potential for gas hydrate occurrence at WR313 is supported by
shingled phase reversals consistent with the transition from gas-charged sand to overlying gas-hydrate
saturated sand. Drilling locations have been selected at each site to 1) test geological methods and models
used to infer the occurrence of gas hydrate in sand reservoirs in different settings in the northern Gulf of
Mexico; 2) calibrate geophysical models used to detect gas hydrate sands, map reservoir thicknesses, and
estimate the degree of gas hydrate saturation; and 3) delineate potential locations for subsequent JIP drilling and coring operations that will collect samples for comprehensive physical property, geochemical and other
analyses
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/1165 |
| Date | 07 1900 |
| Creators | Hutchinson, Deborah R., Shelander, Dianna, Dai, Jianchun, McConnel, Dan, Shedd, William, Frye, Matthew, Ruppel, Carolyn, Boswell, Ray, Jones, Emrys, Collett, Timothy S., Rose, Kelly, Dugan, Brandon, Wood, Warren, Latham, Tom |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
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