全球天然气水合物的分布及资源远景

随着地球物理勘查工作的广泛深入开展。全球海域天然气水合物地质、物化探异常矿点的发现也与日俱增。截止2002年底。世界上已直接或间接发现水合物的矿点共有116处。其中海洋(包括少数深水湖泊)107处。陆地永冻带9处。本文根据最新资料对全球天然气水合物的分布及资源远景作出综述。     

天然气水合物降压开采过程中储层应力规律分析

为了研究天然气水合物降压开采过程的储层应力及其稳定性，运用线性多孔弹性力学和岩石力学知识，考虑水合物储层原始应力、孔隙压力、渗流附加应力及降压开采水合物过程中水合物饱和度的变化，建立了降压开采天然气水合物储层的力学模型，结合墨西哥湾某处水合物藏的基本参数，对降压开采水合物储层应力变化和开采过程的储层稳定性进行研究。结果表明：井底压力是影响水合物储层应力变化的关键因素之一；渗流附加应力在一定程度上减小了储层的应力；水合物分解储层应力发生变化，储层应力在井壁处的波动最大，井壁处是整个储层所受轴向偏应力最大的位置，因此井壁处是优先发生剪切破坏的位置；为了储层的稳定性，降压开采水合物生产压差应小于2.19 MPa。     

国外天然气水合物调查研究综述

天然气水合物是21世纪的一种具有巨大潜在开发价值的海洋新型能源矿产。截至2002年底，全球范围内共有23处水合物矿点直接获取水合物岩心样品。我们在收集国外天然气水合物调查研究方面的文献资料基础上，介绍了国外的研究进展，供我国天然气水合物研究者在开展调查研究时参考。     

国外天然气水合物主要研究机构及研究项目

近20年来，世界各国投入了大量的资金和人力研究寻求洁净的新能源——天然气水台物。截至2002年底，全球范围内共有23处水合物矿点直接获取水合物岩心样品。本文在收集国外天然气水合物调查研究方面的文献资料基础上。介绍了国外主要的研究机构和研究项目。供我国天然气水合物研究者在开展项目设计和调查研究时参考。     

海底天然气渗漏系统水合物成藏过程及控制因素

在海底天然气渗漏系统沉淀水合物的动力学基础上,建立了水合物沉淀与分解的化学动力学模型。应用该模型分析了美国墨西哥湾布什山天然气渗漏系统水合物的成藏过程,探讨了水合物沉淀、稳定性影响因素。在渗漏通量为每年400kg·m-2的单个通道中,约需425a才能导致水合物稳定带沉积层约30%孔隙完全被水合物充填,渗漏通道被堵塞,沉淀的水合物在剖面上从稳定带底部向海底趋于富C3+C4。在渗漏通道天然气流量由弱到强再到弱的演化过程中,渗漏速度增大过程中形成的水合物在渗漏速度减小过程中将分解,总量约10%的水合物将被分解。如果分解产生的天然气可快速迁移出渗漏系统,海底温度的升高可引起约40%的水合物在20d内分解,并导致海底渗漏速度的急剧增大。     

印度西部大陆边缘天然气水合物和游离气的可能模型

我们通过印度西部大陆边缘(WCMI)的多道地震反射资料解释，以建立天然气水合物形成的可能模型。地震剖面上双程走时(TWT)为2950ms的反射界面被解释为甲烷水合物层底界，即似海底反射(BSR)，它出现于海底以下500ms处。相似成因的KSRs在世界范围内广泛存在，不管其下有否游离气，它们通常是含天然气水合物的碎屑沉积物的底界。本文建立了一个天然气水合物/游离气模型，运用不用物性以合成地震记录，并与多道地震反射资料上所观察到的BSR振幅和不同震源一检波器偏移距的波形进行对比。初步结果为研究水合物分布和形成的预测模型提供了重要证据。不同偏移距的振幅恢复也为水合物特性的响应研究提供了依据。     

墨西哥湾下伏含盐盆地密西西比扇体中的天然气水合物和原油：石油系统的特征

在靠近墨西哥湾下斜坡与深海平原的交接处的阿特沃特海下谷(AT)425火山喷块区，水深约1920～1930m处的海底有Ⅱ型结构天然气水合物(甲烷-乙烷水合物)和原油。该处位于墨西哥湾下伏含盐盆地界线内清楚的构造区——东密西西比扇体(MFF)中。热成因烃类的存在证实了在东MFF深部存在活动的石油系统。MFF中天然气水合物含的C2-C5烃类气体的^13C极低，使得其与上斜坡和中斜坡其它气体明显不同。AT425处石油中的生物标志物(m／z=191及217)同样与上墨西哥湾斜坡及Smackover斜坡的原油的标志物明显不同。AT425处原油的生物标志物与具有强烈的含硅粘土流体区沉积的、可能有高等植物有机质沉积的海洋源岩一致。墨西哥湾下陷带内存在的页岩或泥岩源岩引起了诸如源岩沉积时的古地理等新问题。墨西哥湾含盐盆地下陷带南部和东部在中生代突然出现的高地可以解释AT425处产生原油和天然气的页岩或泥岩源岩产状。     

卫星热红外亮温异常与深水海域天然气水合物藏区分布——以墨西哥湾地区为例

以墨西哥湾西北部陆坡区为研究区,利用NOAA/AVHRR热红外影像,通过分析1999年Central Mexico 7.0级地震、1999年Oaxaco 7.5级地震和2003年Colima 7.6级地震3次地震期间与墨西哥湾西北部陆坡区海底天然气水合物藏区对应的海表面上方卫星热红外亮温异常的变化,研究了卫星热红外亮温异常与深水海域天然气水合物藏区分布的关系.研究发现,与墨西哥湾西北部陆坡区海底天然气水合物藏区对应的海表面上方,临震前频繁出现孤立的、带状的、强度较大的卫星热红外亮温异常,该研究结果表明,同次和多次地震临震前,该地区频繁出现孤立、带状、强度较大的卫星热红外亮温异常可能与海底蕴藏着天然气水合物藏有关.     

天然气水合物在海洋钻探区域的赋存特征

介绍了天然气水合物的形成、稳定条件、分布情况及勘查研究进展,重点介绍了国际上典型天然气水合物钻探项目的目标及成果。通过ODP164航次、ODP204航次、墨西哥湾联合行业项目、日本、印度和韩国的天然气水合物钻探实例研究,分析了海洋天然气水合物在钻探区域的分布特征,阐述了如何利用天然气水合物勘查技术识别天然气水合物资源,部署井位钻获天然气水合物实物样品。给我国天然气水合物钻前井位部署工作提供一些参考性的建议。     

墨西哥湾北部陆坡天然气水合物成藏系统

为了深入了解墨西哥湾北部陆坡天然气水合物赋存状况、水合物储层特征以及资源评价,借助天然气水合物成藏系统概念,在收集和整理国内外学者的研究成果的基础上提出了散失均衡体系。对该区天然气水合物气体供应、流体运移、聚集成藏及水合物散失均衡体系进行了综合分析,认为散失均衡体系应该作为天然气水合物成藏系统的重要组成部分予以重视。     

墨西哥湾天然气水合物资源潜力的评估方法

通过对有关墨西哥湾天然气水合物资源评估方法的文献进行归纳总结,认为地质、技术和经济是影响水合物资源经济潜力评估的三大重要因素,这对于我国未来天然气水合物资源评价具有一定的参考作用。     

Pore- and fracture-filling gas hydrate reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico Gas Hydrate Joint Industry Project Leg II Green Canyon 955 H well

High-quality logging-while-drilling (LWD) downhole logs were acquired in seven wells drilled during the Gulf of Mexico Gas Hydrate Joint Industry Project Leg II in the spring of 2009. Well logs obtained in one of the wells, the Green Canyon Block 955 H well (GC955-H), indicate that a 27.4-m thick zone at the depth of 428 m below sea floor (mbsf; 1404 feet below sea floor (fbsf)) contains gas hydrate within sand with average gas hydrate saturations estimated at 60% from the compressional-wave (P-wave) velocity and 65% (locally more than 80%) from resistivity logs if the gas hydrate is assumed to be uniformly distributed in this mostly sand-rich section. Similar analysis, however, of log data from a shallow clay-rich interval between 183 and 366 mbsf (600 and 1200 fbsf) yielded average gas hydrate saturations of about 20% from the resistivity log (locally 50−60%) and negligible amounts of gas hydrate from the P-wave velocity logs. Differences in saturations estimated between resistivity and P-wave velocities within the upper clay-rich interval are caused by the nature of the gas hydrate occurrences. In the case of the shallow clay-rich interval, gas hydrate fills vertical (or high angle) fractures in rather than filling pore space in sands. In this study, isotropic and anisotropic resistivity and velocity models are used to analyze the occurrence of gas hydrate within both the clay-rich and sand dominated gas-hydrate-bearing reservoirs in the GC955-H well.     

Geochemical constraints on the distribution of gas hydrates in the Gulf of Mexico

Gas hydrates are common within near-seafloor sediments immediately surrounding fluid and gas venting sites on the continental slope of the northern Gulf of Mexico. However, the distribution of gas hydrates within sediments away from the vents is poorly documented, yet critical for gas hydrate assessments. Porewater chloride and sulfate concentrations, hydrocarbon gas compositions, and geothermal gradients obtained during a porewater geochemical survey of the northern Gulf of Mexico suggest that the lack of bottom simulating reflectors in gas-rich areas of the gulf may be the consequence of elevated porewater salinity, geothermal gradients, and microbial gas compositions in sediments away from fault conduits.     

Mapping the resistivity structure of Walker Ridge 313 in the Gulf of Mexico using the marine CSEM method

A marine controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM) campaign was carried out in the Gulf of Mexico to further develop marine electromagnetic techniques in order to aid the detection and mapping of gas hydrate deposits. Marine CSEM methods are used to obtain an electrical resistivity structure of the subsurface which can indicate the type of substance filling the pore space, such as gas hydrates which are more resistive. Results from the Walker Ridge 313 study (WR 313) are presented in this paper and compared with the Gulf of Mexico Gas Hydrate Joint Industry Project II (JIP2) logging while drilling (LWD) results and available seismic data. The hydrate, known to exist within sheeted sand deposits, is mapped as a resistive region in the two dimensional (2D) CSEM inversion models. This is consistent with the JIP2 LWD resistivity results. CSEM inversions that use seismic horizons provide more realistic results compared to the unconstrained inversions by providing sharp boundaries and architectural control on the location of the resistive and conductive regions in the CSEM model. The seismic horizons include: 1) the base of the gas hydrate stability zone (BGHSZ), 2) the top of salt, and 3) the top and bottom of a fine grained marine mud interval with near vertical hydrate filled fractures, to constrain the CSEM inversion model. The top of salt provides improved location for brines, water saturated salt, and resistive salt. Inversions of the CSEM data map the occurrence of a ‘halo’ of conductive brines above salt. The use of the BGHSZ as a constraint on the inversion helps distinguish between free gas and gas hydrate as well as gas hydrate and water saturated sediments.     

High-resolution seismic characterization of the gas and gas hydrate system at Green Canyon 955, Gulf of Mexico,USA

The Pliocene and Pleistocene sediments at lease block Green Canyon 955 (GC955) in the Gulf of Mexico include sand-rich strata with high saturations of gas hydrate; these gas hydrate accumulations and the associated geology have been characterized over the past decade using conventional industry three-dimensional (3D) seismic data and dedicated logging-while-drilling (LWD) borehole data. To improve structural and stratigraphic characterization and to address questions of gas flow and reservoir properties, in 2013 the U.S. Geological Survey acquired high-resolution two-dimensional (2D) seismic data at GC955. Combined analysis of all available data improves our understanding of the geological evolution of the study area, which includes basin-scale migration of the Mississippi River sediment influx as well as local-scale shifting of sedimentary channels at GC955 in response to salt-driven uplift, structural deformation associated with the salt uplift, and upward gas migration from deeper sediments that charges the main gas hydrate reservoir and shallower strata. The 2D data confirm that the sand-rich reservoir is composed principally of sediments deposited in a proximal levee setting and that episodes of channel scour, interspersed with levee deposition, have resulted in an assemblage of many individual proximal levee deposit “pods” each with horizontal extent up to several hundred meters. Joint analysis of the 2D and 3D data reveals new detail of a complex fault network that controls the fluid-flow system; large east-west trending normal faults allow fluid flow through the reservoir-sealing fine-grained unit, and smaller north-south oriented faults provide focused fluid-flow pathways (chimneys) through the shallower sediments. This system has enabled the flow of gas from the main reservoir to the seafloor throughout the recent history at GC955, and its intricacies help explain the distributed occurrences of gas hydrate in the intervening strata.     

Investigation of microbial influences on seafloor gas-hydrate formations

Microbial communities flourish at gas hydrate occurrences in ocean sediments. Studies are reported in this paper on the laboratory production, separation, characterization and hydrate catalysis of biosurfactants from cultures of the Bacillus subtilis bacterium associated with Gulf of Mexico gas-hydrate accumulations. The B. subtilis bacterium from ATCC 21332 species was cultured anaerobically with glucose as carbon-source to produce surfactin, one of the more potent surface active agents known. The surface-active agent was removed from the broth in foam created by bubbling inert gas through the mixture, and biosurfactant was then recovered from the collapsed-foam distilled water solution by acid precipitation and dichloromethane extraction. According to HPLC spectra, five surfactin isomers were identified in the sample of laboratory-generated biosurfactant. Recovered surfactin was then used to perform gas-hydrate formation studies in porous media saturated with the surfactin-water solution. Gas-hydrate induction time and formation rate determinations showed that the anaerobically-produced biosurfactants catalyzed hydrate formation markedly. The tests suggest prolific surfactin production by the B. subtilis bacterium and of other species under prevailing anaerobic conditions around seafloor gas hydrates that promotes hydrate formation and the propensity of the bioproduct to be dispersed in the porous media by natural gas vents.     

Microstructures of structure I and II gas hydrates from the Gulf of Mexico

Gas hydrate samples from various locations in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) differ considerably in their microstructure. Distinct microstructure characteristics coincide with discrete crystallographic structures, gas compositions and calculated thermodynamic stabilities.     

A predictive numerical model for potential mapping of the gas hydrate stability zone in the Gulf of Cadiz

This paper presents a computational model for mapping the regional 3D distribution in which seafloor gas hydrates would be stable, that is carried out in a Geographical Information System (GIS) environment. The construction of the model is comprised of three primary steps, namely: (1) the construction of surfaces for the various variables based on available 3D data (seafloor temperature, geothermal gradient and depth-pressure); (2) the calculation of the gas function equilibrium functions for the various hydrocarbon compositions reported from hydrate and sediment samples; and (3) the calculation of the thickness of the hydrate stability zone. The solution is based on a transcendental function, which is solved iteratively in a GIS environment.The model has been applied in the northernmost continental slope of the Gulf of Cadiz, an area where an abundant supply for hydrate formation, such as extensive hydrocarbon seeps, diapirs and fault structures, is combined with deep undercurrents and a complex seafloor morphology. In the Gulf of Cadiz, the model depicts the distribution of the base of the gas hydrate stability zone for both biogenic and thermogenic gas compositions, and explains the geometry and distribution of geological structures derived from gas venting in the Tasyo Field (Gulf of Cadiz) and the generation of BSR levels on the upper continental slope.