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FROZEN HEAT
38
At present, little is known about the details of the global oc-
currence of gas hydrates. The pressure and temperature con-
ditions for gas hydrates exist broadly across the globe, and
substantial amounts have been found both in areas with ma-
jor conventional oil and gas accumulations and in areas with-
out those accumulations. The preponderance of evidence
suggests that gas hydrates will be found on the continental
margins, as opposed to the centres of ocean basins.
Global resource volumes are also poorly known. To date, as-
sessments of total in-place resources are based on scant data
and provide little context to the issue of near-term gas hydrate
resource potential, since they generally exclude the localized
and anomalous occurrences that are the most favourable tar-
gets (Boswell and Collett 2011). Recently, however, focused and
regional assessments for the Alaska North Slope (Collett
et al.
2008), Arctic northwestern Canada (Osadetz and Chen 2010),
2.4
WHERE AND
HOWMUCH?
Source: Johnson 2011
Former Soviet
Union
Other
Pacific Asia
Other East
Asia
Other
South Asia
Arctic Ocean
Europe
Latin America and
the Caribbean
Southern Ocean
United States
Canada
Western and
Central Africa
Southern
Africa
North
Africa
Eastern
Africa
India
Oceania
Japan
China
Middle East
Resource potential
Median tcm
0.1
Gas hydrates resource potential by global regions
3
2
6
Source: Johnson 2011
Former Soviet
Union
Other
Pacific Asia
Other East
Asia
Other
South Asia
Arctic Ocean
Europe
Latin America and
the Caribbean
Southern Ocean
United States
Canada
Western and
Central Africa
Southern
Africa
North
Africa
Eastern
Africa
India
Oceania
Japan
China
Middle East
Resource potential
Median tcm
0.1
Gas hydrates resource potential by global regions
3
2
6
Figure 2.4-a:
Gas hydrates resource potential by global regions. This figure includes only that subset of global in-place gas hydrates that
appear to occur at high concentrations in sand-rich reservoirs, the most likely candidates for development. Source: Johnson 2011.