China Finds Major Gas Hydrate Reserve in South China Sea

China said it has identified a major gas hydrate reserve in the northern part of the South China Sea, joining a small group of nations in the world seeking to tap a potentially vaste future source of energy.

There is currently no technology to commercially unlock the energy also known as “flammable ice”, gas frozen in ice-like crystals buried deep under the oceans and experts say commercial, scaled development could be beyond 2030.

China’s Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) announced on Tuesday it had found a gas hydrate reserve that spans 55 square kms (34 square miles) in the Pearl River Mouth basin with controlled reserve equivalent to 100-150 billion cubic metres (bcm) natural gas, according to a report carried on the ministry’s website (www.mlr.gov.cn).

That would be the size of a major conventional natural gas field, like in China’s top gas province Sichuan.

Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey Bureau, an MLR unit, collected samples of “high purity” gas hydrates over nearly four months of surveys and drilling of 23 wells in the waters off south China’s Guangdong province.

Two gas hydrate layers with a thickness of 15-30 metres were found just below the seabed, which was at a depth of 600 to 1,000 metres.

“It marks a breakthrough in investigating the resource and proves that the Pearl River Mouth basin is rich in gas hydrate,” the report said, adding China becomes the fourth country in the world to have collected sample of the methane hydrate after the U.S., Japan and India.

Che Changbo, deputy director of MLR’s Geological Exploration Department, said China would collect more samples from target areas and increase research into how to tap the energy source.

“Without mature technology, nobody will be able to develop this resource,” Che told Reuters by telephone.

China, the world’s top energy, formally started studies of gas hydrate since 2002, when the government listed it as a national research project.

Japan, which barely has any indigenous energy resources, was probably the only country so far that has extracted gas from hydrate deposits.

In 2008, state-run Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC) demonstrated for the first time a nearly six-day continuous period of production of methane gas from hydrate reserves held deep in permafrost in Canada.

In March, Japan succeeded in producing 120,000 cubic metres of gas over six days from a test exploration in the Pacific Ocean off Aichi Prefecture in central Japan.

In 2010, the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook (WEO) estimated that methane hydrates contained almost twice as much energy as all the world’s resources of gas, oil and coal combined.

Technological challenges are immense as hydrates are only stable under specific temperature and pressure.

11 Comments on "China Finds Major Gas Hydrate Reserve in South China Sea"

J-Gav on Thu, 19th Dec 2013 2:40 pm 



Who cares? The only thing we should care about is if somebody actually starts exploiting this ‘resource.’ Then it would only be a matter of time before “Oops, we didn’t mean to leak all that methane …”

Arthur on Thu, 19th Dec 2013 3:22 pm 



“flammable ice”, gas frozen in ice-like crystals buried deep under the oceans and experts say commercial, scaled development could be beyond 2030.

Until 2020: oil, incl shale
2020-2030: natural gas
2030-20xx: methane hydrates

And in the mean time rapid increasing application of renewables, provided prices of fossil remain where they are now or ranging higher.

No world running out of fossil anytime soon, welcome to the ‘third carbon age’.

http://tinyurl.com/otvawuo

Timing: financial, economic and geopolitical convulsions first, then peak fossil, then climate collapse (if any).

Bob Inget on Thu, 19th Dec 2013 5:03 pm 



AS oceans warm, this batch, and every other collection of yummy ice crystals with make a most unappetizing burp, putting dead end to man’s energy needs.
full stop

rockman on Thu, 19th Dec 2013 5:05 pm 



“…with controlled reserve equivalent to 100-150 billion cubic metres (bcm) natural gas,” The reserve equivalent is exactly ZERO bcf. No oil/NG deposit can be classified as equivalent of any amount of “reserves” if there is no proven ability to produce them economically. Proven methane hydrates around the global are currently ZERO because no method has yet been developed to produce them COMMERCIALLY.

shortonoil on Thu, 19th Dec 2013 5:29 pm 



Woods Hole estimates that the quantity of methane hydrate buried off the world’s Continental selves is 4000 trillion tons. An “WOW” – the Chinese found some of it? It would be harder to find a body in a cemetery!

John Orr on Thu, 19th Dec 2013 8:45 pm 



Perhaps we need to reset the financial system…. where we can’t afford it….is no longer in the dictionary!!!….after all money is only paper…and some people can cut paper what ever way they want!!!….just saying…

Dave Thompson on Thu, 19th Dec 2013 10:32 pm 



Any country or company/corporation looking to reap the energy from this deep ocean “source” can only mean, we are now at the point in time for humanity to either wise up or go extinct.

GregT on Thu, 19th Dec 2013 10:37 pm 



“In 2010, the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook (WEO) estimated that methane hydrates contained almost twice as much energy as all the world’s resources of gas, oil and coal combined.”

In September of 2013 Hansen et al. estimated that if we burn the known remaining gas, oil and coal reserves, we will cook the planet Earth, and all life as we know it will end.

“If we burn all the fossil fuels we have left in the ground, that’s about 10-15,000Gt of carbon that we could put in the atmosphere. That gives us 5x the CO2 from 1950, or 1,400ppm. This will give us 16*C of global warming.”
“Keep in mind also, that 6*C of warming is generally enough for a mass extinction like the dinosaurs.”
“Basically, if we burn all the fossil fuels, we’re all going down and taking the rest of the species on the planet with us, and we really will be the dumbest smart species ever to cause our own extinction.”

http://readthescience.com/2013/09/20/if-we-burn-all-the-fossil-fuels/

Yet Rigzone continues to spew this crap, on a daily basis. What a bunch of complete effing idiots.

Makati1 on Fri, 20th Dec 2013 12:26 am 



Did anyone notice the temperature increase just now? I see the extinction cliff edge and it is fast approaching.

Arthur, you are in need of help if you think there will be a ‘save’ for BAU. We are going to crash and burn before 2025. Sooner, I expect.

What we have left will be the slow end of humanity and most other life on this rock over then next few generations.

When we put the dollar before the life sustaining ecology of Mother Earth and technology before wisdom, we sealed our fate. We are just the lucky ones to experience the results, total destruction and species suicide.

Makati1 on Fri, 20th Dec 2013 12:28 am 



Sorry Arthur, I missed your last sentence. Just got up. Need another cup of coffee. You are correct.

Arthur on Fri, 20th Dec 2013 9:25 am 



Indeed Makati1, I am talking about potential, not about what should be done (solar panels on every roof and windturbine next to every village and scrap the car), and knowing full well that if humanity can do something stupid, like harvesting methane hydrates in grand style, it probably will.

Like the great Greek authors said, life is a tragedy for the amusement of the Gods in the skies.