Taiwan Finds Huge Methane Hydrate Gas Reserves
Date: 27-Mar-07
Country: CHINA
Taiwan, with a population of 23 million, has been seeking alternative energy sources to diversify supplies, as it now relies on imports to meet virtually all its crude oil needs.
Taiwanese researchers discovered total estimated reserves of 600 billion cubic metres of methane hydrate off Taiwan about 200 metres below the seabed, Saulwood Lin, a researcher at the Taiwan National University's institute of oceanography told Reuters.
"The methane hydrate reserves are shallower than 1,000 metres, which is not that deep, making it economically feasible to develop," Lin said.
"It depends on how much money the government wants to put in," he added, saying there was still a long way to go before Taiwan could tap the energy source.
Gas hydrates are solid crystals that combine methane and water and exist under specific temperature and pressure conditions. Formations exist under hundreds of metres of water, and closer to the surface in permafrost areas of the Arctic.
Lin declined to comment on specifics regarding the location of the reserves.
Researchers call the substance "ice that can burn" because it vaporises and can be ignited easily at around room temperature.
The US Department of Energy estimates that distribution of methane hydrates throughout the world could contain as much as 200,000 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Commercial exploitation has yet to begin, although oil major BP has drilled a test well in Alaska while Japan started test drilling off northwest Canada this year.
