Gas hydrate distribution and volume in Canada

Gas hydrate, a solid form of natural gas and water, is inferred to widely o ccur in Canadian polar and continental shelf regions and in sediment of out er continental margins. Although direct indications of hydrate are few and widely separated, conditions potentially favorable for gas hydrate formatio n and stability, especially low to moderate temperatures under permafrost o r the deep sea, combined with favorable geological conditions for gas gener ation and storage, cover vast areas and indicate an immense potential for n atural hydrocarbon gas in the upper 2 km of many Canadian sedimentary basin s. We have analyzed the potential of gas hydrates for the vast continental shelves and Arctic permafrost regions of Canada (Mackenzie delta-Beaufort S ea and Arctic Archipelago in the north and Davis Strait, the Labrador Shelf , Scotian Shelf, and Grand Banks of Newfoundland along the Canadian Atlanti c margin and Canadian Pacific margin). Our conservative calculation suggest s 10(10)-10(12) m(3) of gas hydrates in these regions has an associated met hane gas potential estimated to be in the range of 10(12)-10(14) m(3). The volume of methane in hydrates in Canada are geographically distributed in t he following regions: 0.24-8.7 X 10(13) m(3) in the Mackenzie delta-Beaufor t Sea, 0.19-6.2 x 10(14) m(3) in the Arctic Archipelago, 1.9-7.8 x 10(13) m (3) on the Atlantic margin, and 0.32-2.4 x 10(13) m(3) on the Pacific margi n. The total in-situ amount of methane in hydrates of Canada is estimated t o be 0.44-8.1 X 10(14) m(3), as compared to a conventional Canadian in-situ hydrocarbon gas potential of approximately 0.27 x 10(14) m(3). This compar ison suggests that gas hydrates represent a possible future assurance of No rth American energy supply if the gas can be recovered and separated from t he hydrate form.