gas hydrate - CCOP

The brief tasks in the Phase I are:
- On-shore production test (preliminary test).
- 3D survey of methane hydrates bearing fields.
- METI exploratory test wells in hydrated sea areas (coring, logging, etc.).
- On-shore production test.
Phase II (3 years: fiscal 2009-2011)
- Evaluation of methane hydrate resources in the selected hydrate fields
- Implementation of offshore production test in the sea off Japan and verification of
production techniques.
The brief tasks in the Phase II are:
- Ocean production test - Well completion and productive capacity evaluation
Phase III (5 years: fiscal 2012-2016)
- Development of technologies for commercial production and evaluation of economic
feasibility, environmental impact, etc.
The brief schedules in the Phase II are:
- Preparation for commercial production
ROLE OF RESEARCH GROUPS IN MH21 RESEARCH CONSORTIUM
The Research Group for Resources Assessment
The Research Group for Resources Assessment is responsible for optimizing methane hydrate
exploration technologies and assessing the fields and amount of offshore methane hydrate
resources around Japan, particularly in the Nankai Trough region. Through this research,
methane hydrate resource fields suitable for offshore production tests will be selected. The
Research Group for Resources Assessment is also responsible for carrying out
engineering work related to drilling and production activities for offshore production
tests at the sites selected, as well as preparing plans for the offshore production tests
scheduled for the first half of Phase II.
The Research Group for Production Method and Modeling
The Research Group for Production Method and Modeling is responsible for research and
development of technologies for dissociating and recovering methane hydrate from sandy
layers containing methane hydrate in their pores. The goal is to establish highly productive
and economical natural gas production technologies for producing natural gas from the
methane hydrate layers.
The characterization of the methane hydrate layer and identification of its dynamics
during the dissociation process has been studied by this group. In addition, its work
involves modeling the behavior of methane hydrate layers during decomposition and
developing a field scale-compatible simulator capable of assessing the amount of gas
likely to be generated. The Research Group is also responsible for proposing the most
efficient gas production process. This which will involve verifying through onshore
production tests, carrying out assessments using simulators, and conducting tests to
evaluate different dissociation and extraction methods using artificial methane
hydrate-bearing sediment. It will also conduct studies of recovery techniques, based on
new concepts that depart from the decomposition and recovering techniques proposed
to date, and carry out overall assessments of productivity from methane hydrate layers.
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New Energy Resources in the CCOP Region - Gas Hydrates and Coalbed Methane