DOE awards Alaska methane hydrate research contract worth up to $49.8 million

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DOE awards Alaska methane hydrate contract

Highlights

DOE awarded ASRC Consulting and Environmental Services, LLC a contract worth up to $49.8 million to advance methane hydrate research in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.
The two-phase project encompasses site maintenance, planning, and potentially establishing temporary facilities to test methane production from hydrate-bearing reservoirs.
The initiative involves collaboration with Japanese agencies and leverages existing Prudhoe Bay infrastructure to assess commercial viability, under agreements with Hilcorp Alaska and oversight by state authorities.

Contract scope and research plan

As reported by Energy Department, citing the Department of Energy, its Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office has awarded ASRC Consulting and Environmental Services, LLC a contract valued at up to $49.8 million to advance methane hydrate research and production testing in northern Alaska.

ACES, a subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation Energy Services Alaska, Inc., is set to build on prior production testing and maintain the existing research site in the Prudhoe Bay Unit. DOE says the work is intended to strengthen the scientific and engineering base needed to evaluate methane hydrates as a possible future domestic energy resource.

The project is structured in two phases. In Phase 1, the contractor is to maintain the current site and equipment while preparing detailed plans for a possible follow-on production test; if DOE exercises its option for Phase 2, ACES is to establish and operate temporary production facilities to produce methane from targeted hydrate-bearing reservoir sections.

Energy strategy and Alaska industry significance

DOE says gas hydrates are naturally occurring, ice-like crystalline solids that contain large volumes of natural gas beneath permafrost and offshore formations. The department views the Alaska North Slope site as a rare field setting where hydrate-bearing reservoirs can be studied through existing infrastructure and continuously monitored wells, helping researchers assess whether commercial-scale production rates are achievable.

The effort also carries an international and regional operating dimension. The project is being conducted with the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, while DOE is continuing to work with the U.S. Geological Survey and AES on a follow-on production test.

Field testing at the Prudhoe Bay Unit site is conducted under a drilling agreement between AES and Hilcorp Alaska, acting for the Prudhoe Bay Working Interest Owners, with approval from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.

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