Analysis of production data for 2007/2008 mallik gas hydrate production tests in Canada

The methane hydrate (MH) production tests were conducted using the depressurization method in the JOGMEC/NRCan/Aurora Mallik production program in April 2007 and in March 2008. In addition to attaining the first and the only successful methane gas production to the surface from a MH reservoir by depressurization in the world, various data such as wellhead/bottomhole pressure, temperature, gas and water flow rates and the temperature along the casing measured by Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) systems were acquired during these tests. The flow rates of gas and water from the reservoir sand face were then estimated by the comprehensive analysis of these data. This paper clarifies the details of the estimation of gas and water flow rates based on these data, for the first time after the 2008 winter test. In 2007, a certain amount of gas and water were produced from a 12 m perforation interval in one of the major MH reservoirs at the Mallik site in Canada, by reducing the bottomhole pressure down to about 7 MPa. However, because of the irregular (on-off) pumping operations due probably to the excessive sand production, the produced gas was not directly delivered to the surface via the tubing, but was accumulated at the top of the casing. Hence, the gas production rate was calculated based on the continuously monitored bottomhole and casing head pressure. Since the produced water was injected into the aquifer located below the MH reservoir, it was impossible to directly measure the water pumping rate. The pumping rate and water production rates were accurately estimated by matching the bottomhole temperature through the numerical simulation using a wellbore model. In 2008, much larger and longer gas production was accomplished with a stepwise reduction of the bottomhole pressure down to about 4.5 MPa, preventing sands from flowing into the wellbore by the screen. In this test, both the gas and water were delivered to the surface, which enables the estimation of the gas and water flow rates from the reservoir sand face as well as liquid level in casing based on the monitored parameters. Investigating the production performances thus estimated, it was inferred what really happened in the reservoir during the tests. These insights must be beneficial for future exploration and development planning for MH resources.