Washington (Platts)--30Mar2010/517 pm EDT/2117 GMT

Significant concentrations of gas hydrate exist in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, potentially boosting the amount of natural gas reserves in the US, according to a study released Tuesday by the US Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy. Gas hydrate is a solid substance composed of natural gas combined with water molecules, and DOE said they have the potential to be "a significant new energy source to meet future energy needs."

Though gas hydrates are thought to exist in significant quantities, this study is the first to confirm their presence in "resource-quality accumulations in US waters."

DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory and an industry consortium led by Chevron conducted the study of drilling samples collected from three sites in the Gulf of Mexico in May 2009.

"The two holes drilled at Walker Ridge yielded evidence of a laterally continuous thick fracture-filling gas hydrate section, but more importantly both wells also encountered sand reservoirs, between 40- to 50-feet thick, highly saturated with gas hydrate," the report states. "Gas hydrate-bearing sands were also drilled in two of the three Green Canyon wells, with one occurrence roughly 100-feet thick."

The study did not quantify how much gas hydrate could be recovered from the Gulf of Mexico, and DOE said further studies, including an expedition in spring 2011, will be conducted to fully assess the extent and nature of the Gulf's gas hydrate deposits.

DOE also said the study validated the geological and geophysical methodology used to select the sites, which were chosen for their gas hydrate potential.

--Herman Wang, herman_wang@platts.com