Hydrates – a Future Energy Source

Natural gas hydrates represent an enormous potential future energy source. Hydrates resemble ice but contain 164 volumes of gas per volume of hydrate. Huge amounts of hydrate exist. Total worldwide hydrate resources are estimated at several hundred thousand trillion cubic feet of natural gas or 10 – 20 times the total remaining global reserves and undiscovered resources of conventional natural gas (U.S. Geological Survey data).

Initially, WWHG is targeting hydrate deposits with salt, rock or permafrost caps where our new technology can be combined with conventional oilfield techniques to produce gas from the hydrate. Much more hydrate is located offshore in marine sediments and presents additional technical challenges. Major opportunities exist onshore in Alaska, Canada and Russia as well as offshore opportunities such as the Gulf of Mexico, Japan, India and China.