Since the implementation of several pilot production tests were in natural gas hydrate (NGH) reservoirs in terrestrial and marine settings, the study of NGH has entered a new stage of technological development for industrial exploitation. Prior to the industrial exploitation of any given NGH reservoir, the economic feasibility should be examined. The first step of economic evaluation of a NGH reservoir is to know whether its resource amount meets the requirement for industrial exploitation. Unfortunately, few relevant studies have been conducted in this regard. In this study, the net present value (NPV) method is employed to estimate the economic critical resources required for the industrial exploitation of NGHs under different production scenarios. Sensitivity analysis is also performed in order to specify the effects of key factors, such as the number of production wells, gas price, technological improvement and tax incentive, on the economic critical resources. The results indicate that China requires the lowest economic critical resource for a NGH reservoir to be industrially exploited, ranging from 3.62 to 24.02 billion m3 methane. Changes in gas price and tax incentives also play significant roles in affecting the threshold and timeline for the industrial exploitation of NGH.

CHEN Xuejun;LU Hailong;ZHANG Jiecheng;YE Jianliang;XIE Wenwei

College of Engineering,Peking University,Beijing 100871,China;Institute of Ocean Research,Peking University,Beijing 100871,China;Beijing International Center for Gas Hydrate,School of Earth and Space Sciences,Peking University,Beijing 100871,China;Institute for Marine Science and Technology,Shenzhen Graduate School,Peking University,Shenzhen 518055,China;Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey,Guangzhou 510075,China

地质学报（英文版）

[1]CHEN Xuejun;LU Hailong;ZHANG Jiecheng;YE Jianliang;XIE Wenwei-.Economic Critical Resources for the Industrial Exploitation of Natural Gas Hydrate)[J].地质学报（英文版）,2022(02):663-673

NGHs

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