BOEMRE Studies Methods of Locating Gas Hydrate Deposits
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) has released a report on a bureau-funded study of new and more effective methods of predicting, detecting and mapping the occurrence of gas hydrates in deepwater environments. The study, Multicomponent and Multifrequency Seismic for Assessment of Fluid-Gas Expulsion Geology and Gas Hydrate Deposits: Gulf of Mexico Hydrates, examined the various methods used to locate gas hydrate deposits. If such deposits occur in sufficiently high concentrations, they can be a potential new source of natural gas. “This study is critical to furthering our ability to assess deepwater gas hydrates as a future energy resource,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich.
Seafloor Observatory Gets $20m
The research capacity of the University of Victoria-led NEPTUNE Canada, the world’s first regional cabled ocean observatory, received a significant boost today with the announcement of an additional $20 million in funding. The $8 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), $8 million from the BC Knowledge Development Fund (BCKDF) and $4 million of in-kind support from private partners including Alcatel will allow scientists to significantly expand the scope and scientific impact of the NEPTUNE Canada observatory. Beginning in fall 2007, Alcatel will lay an 800-km network of powered fibre optic cable across the seafloor in the deep ocean off the B.C. coast.
