Sedimentological control on saturation distribution in Arctic gas-hydrate-bearing sands

A mechanistic model is proposed to predict/explain hydrate saturation distribution in "converted free gas" hydrate reservoirs in sub-permafrost formations in the Arctic. This 1-D model assumes that a gas column accumulates and subsequently is converted to hydrate. The processes considered are the volume change during hydrate formation and consequent fluid phase transport within the column, the descent of the base of gas hydrate stability zone through the column, and sedimentological variations with depth. Crucially, the latter enable disconnection of the gas column during hydrate formation, which leads to substantial variation in hydrate saturation distribution. One form of variation observed in Arctic hydrate reservoirs is that zones of very low hydrate saturations are interspersed abruptly between zones of large hydrate saturations. The model was applied to data from Mount Elbert well, a gas hydrate stratigraphic test well drilled in the Milne Point area of the Alaska North Slope. The model is consistent with observations from the well log and interpretations of seismic anomalies in the area. The model also predicts that a considerable amount of fluid (of order one pore volume of gaseous and/or aqueous phases) must migrate within or into the gas column during hydrate formation. This paper offers the first explanatory model of its kind that addresses "converted free gas reservoirs" from a new angle: the effect of volume change during hydrate formation combined with capillary entry pressure variation versus depth. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.