The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Methane Hydrate R&D Program, led by DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and NETL, marked its 20-year anniversary with a brochure highlighting the Lab’s successes and ongoing efforts in its collaborative work to advance scientific understanding of gas hydrates.

Established in 2000, the Methane Hydrates R&D Program is a collaborative effort with universities, industry, international partners and other federal agencies that seeks to advance scientific knowledge of gas hydrates as they occur in nature, such that their resource potential, production approaches, and role in the environment can be more fully understood.

As detailed in the brochure, program successes have ranged from establishing reliable hydrate prospecting, drilling and sampling approaches in the Gulf of Mexico, to organizing international gas hydrate code comparison studies for improving hydrate reservoir simulators.

Ongoing efforts include research on pressure core characterization, as well as development of a long-term production test site on the North Slope of Alaska.

Gas hydrates are a naturally occurring combination of natural gas (mostly methane) and water that form under specific conditions of low temperature and moderate pressure. Recent estimates of gas hydrate abundance suggest they could contain more organic carbon than all the world’s oil, gas and coal combined.

Learn more about gas hydrates and NETL program successes by reading Methane Hydrate Program Highlights: 2000-2020.

NETL is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory that produces technological solutions for America’s energy challenges. From developing creative innovations and efficient energy systems that make coal more competitive, to advancing technologies that enhance oil and natural gas extraction and transmission processes, NETL research is providing breakthroughs and discoveries that support domestic energy initiatives, stimulate a growing economy, and improve the health, safety, and security of all Americans. Highly skilled men and women at NETL’s sites in Albany, Oregon; Anchorage, Alaska; Houston, Texas; Morgantown, West Virginia; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania conduct a broad range of research activities that support DOE’s mission to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States.