3.5.1. Methane Hydrates Workshop (March 1982)

The Workshop, attended by more than 60 individuals, aided in the identification of the correct community for sharing ideas and data, and laid the conceptual foundation for an R&D program which continued from 1982 through 1992.

The Workshop attendees came to the conclusion that there was a need for:

• The Federal Government to provide coordination, integration and synthesis of R&D program elements with the goal of ultimately establishing an estimate of future gas reserves from methane hydrates,
• The establishment of Government/industry cooperation in R&D,
• The development of techniques and procedures for the creation of synthetic hydrate cores for laboratory research,
• The acquisition of natural hydrate cores for the characterization of hydrates in situ,
• The development of agreements for information exchange with other countries,
• The establishment of both laboratory and field research programs, and
• The creation and maintenance of an in-depth knowledge base for future hydrate research.

• Provide the coordination and integration and act as a focal point for future research related to gas hydrates,
• Prepare a plan that would lead to estimates of resource potential and economically recoverable reserves based on production technologies yet-to-be-designed,
• Develop agreements for cooperative research and work with oil and gas companies to establish agreements for wells-of-opportunity in the Kuparuk Field, Alaska, and to
• Develop plans for the collection of cores and logging and from wells-of-opportunity at marine locations.