中国天然气水合物资源潜力及试开采进展

A review of the resource potentials and test productions of natural gas hydrates in China

关键词:  天然气水合物  资源量  试采  中国

Key words:  natural gas hydrate  resource amount  test production  China

摘要:

中国高度重视天然气水合物资源的调查研究。自上世纪90年代中期开始先后经历了资源预测、调查、试采三个发展阶段，迄今已在南海神狐、东沙、琼东南、台西南斜坡及祁连山木里地区发现水合物样品5处，在南海、东海冲绳海槽及青藏高原发现地质、地球物理、地球化学等赋存标志7处，显示出良好的资源前景。综合多位学者的估算结果，中国天然气水合物的资源量约126×10¹²m³，是中国常规天然气资源量的2倍，资源潜力巨大。自2011年起，先后在祁连山木里地区和南海神狐地区进行了5次天然气水合物试验性开采，累计产气量达117×10⁴m³，且使得位于“金字塔”塔基且规模巨大的细粒储层中的水合物也有可能成为开发利用对象。中国是能源短缺国家，如何尽快开发利用这一规模巨大的潜在能源，需要全方位、多层次地开展各项调查研究，并进行技术、经济和环境评价，加快商业化开发进程，使这一潜在能源能在不久的将来真正造福于社会。

Abstract:

China has been attaching great importance to research on natural gas hydrate resources. Since the mid-1990s, China has experienced three development stages of resource prediction, investigation, and test production of natural gas hydrate resources. Till now, five hydrate samples have been discovered in Shenhu, Dongsha, Qiongdongnan, offshore Taiwan of the South China Sea and in the Muli area of Qilian Mountain, with seven hydrate occurrences inferred including geology, geophysics and geochemistry in the South China Sea, the Okinawa Trough of the East China Sea, and the Tibetan Plateau. According to the hydrate stability zone, the natural gas hydrate resources in the South China Sea are estimated to be 64×10¹² m³, those in the Okinawa Trough are about 24×10¹² m³, and those in the terrestrial permafrost are about 38×10¹² m³. The total amount of the natural gas hydrates in China reaches up to 126×10¹² m³, which is twice the amount of China’s conventional natural gas resources. Since 2011, China has carried out five test productions of hydrates in the Muli area of Qilian Mountain and in Shenhu area of the South China Sea using depressurization and heating methods, with gas production of 117×10⁴m³. It is probable to exploit hydrates in large-scale fine-grained reservoirs located at the base of the classification ‘pyramid’.