Geomechanical Performance of Hydrate-Bearing Sediment in Offshore Environments

The objective of this multi-year, multi-institutional research project was to develop the knowledge base and quantitative predictive capability for the description of geomechanical performance of hydrate-bearing sediments (hereafter referred to as HBS) in oceanic environments. The focus was on the determination of the envelope of hydrate stability under conditions typical of those related to the construction and operation of offshore platforms. We have developed a robust numerical simulator of hydrate behavior in geologic media by coupling a reservoir model with a commercial geomechanical code. We also investigated the geomechanical behavior of oceanic HBS using pore-scale models (conceptual and mathematical) of fluid flow, stress analysis, and damage propagation. The objective of the UC Berkeley work was to develop a grain-scale model of hydrate-bearing sediments. Hydrate dissociation alters the strength of HBS. In particular, transformation of hydrate clusters into gas and liquid water weakens the skeleton and, simultaneously, reduces the effective stress by increasing the pore pressure. The large-scale objective of the study is evaluation of geomechanical stability of offshore oil and gas production infrastructure. At Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), we have developed the numerical model TOUGH + Hydrate + FLAC3D to evaluate how the formation and disassociation of hydrates in seafloor sediments affects seafloor stability. Several technical papers were published using results from this model. LBNL also developed laboratory equipment and methods to produce realistic laboratory samples of sediments containing gas hydrates so that mechanical properties could be measured in the laboratory. These properties are required to run TOUGH + Hydrate + FLAC3D to evaluate seafloor stability issues. At Texas A&M University we performed a detailed literature review to determine what gas hydrate formation properties had been measured and reported in the literature. We then used TOUGH + Hydrate to simulate the observed gas production and reservoir pressure field data at Messoyakha. We simulated various scenarios that help to explain the field behavior. We have evaluated the effect of reservoir parameters on gas recovery from hydrates. Our work should be beneficial to others who are investigating how to produce gas from a hydrate capped gas reservoir. The results also can be used to better evaluate the process of producing gas from offshore hydrates. The Schlumberger PETREL model is used in industry to the description of geologic horizons and the special distribution of properties. An interface between FLAC3D and Petrel was built by Schlumberger to allow for efficient data entry into TOUGH + Hydrate + FLAC3D