The Ohio State University, through contract 140M0119P0041, prepared an analysis of natural gas hydrate systems within five Project Areas in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The projects goals were to provide BOEM with an understanding of the distribution of potential methane hydrate reservoirs at the prospect level in the Gulf of Mexico to assist BOEM scientists with future methane hydrate resource assessments. The project utilized publicly available seismic data from the National Archive of Marine Seismic Surveys and publicly available wellbore data from the OCS. The project resulted in the identification of 22 new bottom simulating reflection (BSR) systems covering a total of ~330 km2 and an inventory of new gas hydrate prospects in deepwater turbidite systems. This dataset may be used as a reference for further studies in selected areas as new seismic data become available. The work was developed over the period October 1, 2019 – June 1, 2021.
Results from this collaborative effort were presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting (2020), the 70th GCAGS/GCSSEPM Convention and Exposition (2020), and the 2021 International Meeting for Applied Geoscience & Energy (AAPG/SEG). Detailed prospect results from Project Area 4 have been peer-reviewed and published here: https://doi.org/10.1130/G49310.1.
The project results are summarized in five individual Project Area reports as well as a Final Report.
