Natural gas hydrate (NGH), a crystalline compound of water and natural gas, has been recognized as a vast potential energy resource for over two decades, but its commerciality has persistently remained beyond the horizon due to technical and economic hurdles. Drilling and evaluation programs conducted during the past decade, however, have clarified the path forward, and commercial production from NGH is now anticipated for Japan within a few years. NGH forms under the appropriate conditions of pressure and temperature (figure 1) when there is sufficient natural gas flux. The pressure/temperature conditions for gas hydrate stability are present in sediments along every continental margin in the world and in sediments in permafrost regions.
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