南海北部天然气水合物勘查试采及研究进展与勘探前景

20世纪90年代中后期以来，南海北部天然气水合物勘查取得了丰硕的勘探成果和里程碑式的重大突破与进展。迄今为止，通过勘查评价已在南海北部圈定了两大天然气水合物成藏带及三大富集区，先后勘探发现了3个超千亿立方米储量规模的天然气水合物矿藏。同时，通过2017年和2020年2次探索性试采均获得了产气总量及日均产气量超世界新记录，而且攻克了深水海底浅表层未成岩软地层水平井钻采核心技术，实现了由“探索性试采向试验性试采”的重大跨越和突破。然而，南海天然气水合物资源勘查试采这一庞大复杂的系统工程，尚面临着诸多问题和挑战，如天然气水合物成因成藏类型与气源供给及产出赋存特点、天然气水合物成藏机理及主控因素、勘查试采技术方法优化创新与商业化产能目标的实现，以及天然气水合物可持续滚动勘探开发的战略选区及其资源/储量接替等，因此，南海天然气水合物资源勘查试采工程项目工作仍然非常艰巨且任重道远。

THE EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION TEST OF GAS HYDRATE AND ITS RESEARCH PROGRESS AND EXPLORATION PROSPECT IN THE NORTHERN SOUTH CHINA SEA

Since the middle and late 1990s, the gas hydrate exploration in the northern South China Sea has gained great achievements and milestone breakthroughs. So far, two large gas hydrate genetic belts and three enriched regions have been identified through exploration and evaluation, and three gas hydrate deposits with more than 100 billion cubic meters of reserves confirmed. At the same time, through the two exploratory production tests in 2017 and 2020, the world records for total and daily gas production were surpassed, and the core technology of deep-water seafloor horizontal well drilling in shallow unconsolidated sediments succeeded, and a great leap from "exploratory production test" to "experimental production test" realized. However, the exploration and production test of gas hydrate resources in the South China Sea, a huge systematic project, still faces problems and challenges, such as the genetic type of gas hydrate, the characteristics of gas supply and production, the main control factors for genesis and accumulation of gas hydrate, the optimization and innovation of exploration and production test technology, the realization of commercial capacity, the selection of strategic regions for sustainable exploration and development of gas hydrate and the succession of resources and reserves. In conclusion, further efforts are required for the exploration and production test of gas hydrate in the South China Sea.