Gas hydrate potential: Project initiated to process seismic data

Geologists to conduct survey of Gwadar and adjoining areas .

ISLAMABAD: National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) has initiated a project with Chinese technical assistance, under which seismic data acquired by oil and gas companies and research institutions from offshore areas of Makran will be processed to determine the gas hydrate potential.

After initial assessment of samples, NIO geologists are scheduled to conduct geological survey of Gwadar and adjoining areas. NIO is planning a detailed oceanographic survey of the area onboard Pakistan Navy’s survey vessel, officials at the Ministry of Science and Technology told APP here on Wednesday.



NIO has prepared a country paper regarding gas hydrate potential of Pakistan’s offshore area, an official said, adding the institute has already undertaken preliminary studies of the island that emerged at Gwadar and extrusions off Basal River.

The exact location of the island that appeared after the earthquake on September 24 this year is the west bay of Gwadar. Officials said the tests conducted by NIO confirmed the presence of methane gas that was escaping into the air from a number of vents on the island, which is odourless and inflammable.

Three earth extrusions also appeared in the offshore area off Basal River towards the west of Ormara, said the official. “Technically, these extrusions cannot be called islands. Two of the three extrusions remained under water, the third was slightly above the water level. No gas emissions were observed from these three extrusions.”

He said the island that has emerged in the west bay of Gwadar will be washed away by sea in a few months, after losing gas pressure and the process has already started.

According to preliminary studies conducted by NIO, the Makran coastal belt has extensive resources of gas hydrates which are frozen methane. Methane gas is reported to be present a couple of hundred metres below the sea floor.

Many aspects of the gas hydrates are being investigated worldwide to understand their origin, their occurrence, the factors that affect their stability and the possibility of using this vast resource in the world energy mix.

“However, gas hydrates present both scientific and technological challenge, as they are yet to be tapped commercially,” the official added.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2013.

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