Tehran - The plan to explore gas hydrate reserves in the Sea of Oman is in its last stage and will be finalized within a month, said the head of Exploration Department of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said.
Hormoz Qalavand added that the plan was initiated with the support of the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry.

"At present, four types of reservoir rocks have been identified in the world," he said, noting that the plan indicates the presence of Type 3 reservoir rock.

"Type 3 is one of the best types of reservoir rocks."

The official underlined the profitability of using gas hydrates along with fossil fuels to produce energy and heat.

"After exploitation, every cubic meter of gas hydrates will produce heat equivalent to 164 cubic meters of gas," he said.

Qalavand noted that the plan aims to complete a comprehensive method to reach a qualitative examination of gas hydrate reserves in the Sea of Oman.

"Another purpose of the plan is to estimate the amount of gas hydrate reserves on a pilot scale for future decision-making," he said.

Clathrate hydrates (or gas hydrates) are crystalline water-based solids physically resembling ice, in which small non-polar molecules (typically gases) or polar molecules with large hydrophobic moieties are trapped inside "cages" of hydrogen-bonded water molecules.

Clathrates have been found to occur naturally in large quantities. Around 6.4 trillion tons of methane are trapped in deposits of methane clathrate on the deep ocean floor.

By Zawya

 

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