THE PERSPECTIVES OF GAS HEDRATE DEPOSIT RECOVERY

The paper analyses the perspectives of gas hydrate recovery and technologies for arctic region. The limitation of traditional energy sources force humanity to find new sources. Great potential from this point of view has a gas hydrate, which is a frozen compound, formed when water and gas molecules combine at high pressure and low temperature. Proven reserves of hydrates are in several times more than conventional gas. That is why in nearest future gas hydrates could be the important energy source. For the first time it was got in laboratory conditions in 1800. It's research was started in the same time. At first nobody even suspected that hydrates could form in the natural environment. But in 1930 technogenic gas hydrates which could block the flows of transported gas were found in pipelines. It led to new research, which were focused on the warning of hydrates formation in a process of a gas transportation. Then, in 1960, the development of Messoyakhskoye field in Siberia which allowed to discover new hydrates was started. And in 1970 it has already found on Alaska`s fields and on The Black sea. Now the results which were got from gas hydrates research are considered to be potentially new and the most important thing – it became to be the source of energy. Since 1990 the programs of gas hydrates exploration and production have been appearing in the world. USA, Japan, Canada has tested gas hydrate recovery methods and work at new methods. Nowadays there three main recovery technology – depressurization, heat injection, inhibitor injection. The important factor for technology is existing of free water or free gas layer. But the main role for perspective evaluation has economical factors. Gas from hydrate deposit is not the cheapest in a market. However, in the nearest future the situation can change and the humanity will turn to this new source of energy.