Gas hydrates accumulating in continental margin sediments are considered as promising energy resource. Numerous countries around the world (e.g. Japan, South Korea, USA, China, India, New Zealand) are investing in hydrate R & D to explore their coasts and national waters, constrain the resource potential, and develop technologies for gas production from gas hydrates.
The COST action MIGRATE was designed to integrate the expertise of a large number of European research groups and industrial players to promote the development of multidisciplinary knowledge on the potential of gas hydrates as energy resource. On behalf of Ireland, Prof. Niall English, Dr. Michael D. Max, Nick O Neill, and Dr. Srikumar Roy are active members of COST MIGRATE.
The annual meeting of Working Group 1 of COST MIGRATE was recently organized by Dr. Srikumar Roy, at the University College Dublin, during 19th and 20th Feb, in which 17 researchers participated from various parts of Europe and UK. A series of technical presentations covered the new exploration techniques being practiced for gas hydrate exploration in deep and ultra-deep waters. Prof. John Walsh, director of iCRAG delivered a talk on “Impact of faults on basinal fluid flow”, which is crucial for evaluating gas hydrate resources.