Methane hydrate-bearing sediments in the Terrebonne basin, northern Gulf of Mexico

Abstract:

We characterize the geological, geophysical, and thermodynamic state of three dipping, hydrate-bearing sands in the Terrebonne mini basin of the northern Gulf of Mexico, and describe three potential drilling locations to sample these hydrate reservoirs. Within the sand bodies, there is a prominent negative polarity seismic reflection (opposite phase to the seafloor reflector) that we interpret to record the boundary between gas hydrate above and free gas below. This anomaly is the Bottom Simulating Reflector (BSR) and the base of the Gas Hydrate Stability Zone (BGHSZ). Above the BSR, reflection seismic data record these reservoirs with a positive polarity while below it, they record the reservoirs with a negative polarity event. Within the sand bodies, seismic amplitudes are generally strongest immediately above and below the BSR and weaken in updip and downdip directions. Beneath the BSR, two of the reservoirs have a strong negative amplitude event that parallels structure that we interpret to record a gas-water contact, while the third reservoir does not clearly record this behavior. Much like the seafloor, the BSR is bowl-shaped, occurring at greatest depths in the northwest and rising near salt bodies in the south and east. In the north east area of previous exploration, the BSR is found at a depth of 2868 meters below sealevel, implying a geothermal gradient of 20.1^oC/km for type I hydrates. Logging while drilling data reveal that the sands are composed of numerous thin, hydrocarbon-charged, coarse-grained sediments. Hydrate saturation in these sands is greatest near the BGHSZ. Pressure coring is proposed for three wells that will penetrate the reservoirs at different structural elevations in order to further elucidate reservoir conditions of the sands.