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On this page:
– Expedition Report
– Volume Authorship
– Publisher’s Notes
– Chapters
– Expedition Report Bibliography
– Acknowledgements
Expedition Report
Expedition UT-GOM2-1 of the vessel Helix Q-4000 from Brownsville, TX (USA), to Port Fourchon, LA (USA)
Sites GC 955 H002 (API # 608114068600) and GC 955 H005 (API # 608114068700)
2-May-2017 to 24-May-2017
Volume Authorship
Flemings, P.B., Phillips, S.C, Collett, T., Cook, A., Boswell, R., and the UT-GOM2-1 Expedition Scientists1
Publisher’s Notes
This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-FE0023919
“This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.”
The bulk of the shipboard-collected core data from this expedition is accessible from the Institute for Geophysics, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin (UT), at https://ig.utexas.edu/energy/genesis-of-methane-hydrate-in-coarse-grained-systems/expedition-ut-gom2-1/. Instruction on how to access the data are provided there.
Chapters
Expedition Report Bibliography
Please use the following for all prospectus and chapter citations
Chapter Citations
Expedition Summary
2Flemings, P.B., Phillips, S.C, Collett, T., Cook, A., Boswell, R., and the UT-GOM2-1 Expedition Scientists, 2018. UT-GOM2-1 Hydrate Pressure Coring Expedition Summary. In Flemings, P.B., Phillips, S.C, Collett, T., Cook, A., Boswell, R., and the UT-GOM2-1 Expedition Scientists, UT-GOM2-1 Hydrate Pressure Coring Expedition Report: Austin, TX (University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, TX). https://ig.utexas.edu/energy/genesis-of-methane-hydrate-in-coarse-grained-systems/expedition-ut-gom2-1/reports/
Methods
Flemings, P.B., Phillips, S.C, Collett, T., Cook, A., Boswell, R., and the UT-GOM2-1 Expedition Scientists, 2018. UT-GOM2-1 Hydrate Pressure Coring Expedition Methods. In Flemings, P.B., Phillips, S.C, Collett, T., Cook, A., Boswell, R., and the UT-GOM2-1 Expedition Scientists, UT-GOM2-1 Hydrate Pressure Coring Expedition Report: Austin, TX (University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, TX). https://ig.utexas.edu/energy/genesis-of-methane-hydrate-in-coarse-grained-systems/expedition-ut-gom2-1/reports/
H002
Flemings, P.B., Phillips, S.C, Collett, T., Cook, A., Boswell, R., and the UT-GOM2-1 Expedition Scientists, 2018. UT-GOM2-1 Hydrate Pressure Coring Expedition Hole GC 955 H002. In Flemings, P.B., Phillips, S.C, Collett, T., Cook, A., Boswell, R., and the UT-GOM2-1 Expedition Scientists, UT-GOM2-1 Hydrate Pressure Coring Expedition Report: Austin, TX (University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, TX). https://ig.utexas.edu/energy/genesis-of-methane-hydrate-in-coarse-grained-systems/expedition-ut-gom2-1/reports/
H005
Flemings, P.B., Phillips, S.C, Collett, T., Cook, A., Boswell, R., and the UT-GOM2-1 Expedition Scientists, 2018. UT-GOM2-1 Hydrate Pressure Coring Expedition Hole GC 955 H005. In Flemings, P.B., Phillips, S.C, Collett, T., Cook, A., Boswell, R., and the UT-GOM2-1 Expedition Scientists, UT-GOM2-1 Hydrate Pressure Coring Expedition Report: Austin, TX (University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, TX). https://ig.utexas.edu/energy/genesis-of-methane-hydrate-in-coarse-grained-systems/expedition-ut-gom2-1/reports/
Data Directory
https://ig.utexas.edu/energy/genesis-of-methane-hydrate-in-coarse-grained-systems/expedition-ut-gom2-1/data-directory/
Acknowledgements
The UT-GOM2-1 Expedition was conceived in the spring of 2014. Three years of scientific, engineering, and logistical planning culminated in its execution in spring 2017. Hundreds of individuals and many institutions created UT-GOM2-1: we thank you all.
The United States Department of Energy – Office of Fossil Energy funded this initiative and provided enormous logistical and technical support. DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (Rick Baker, Ray Boswell, Jared Ciferno, and Maria Vargas) provided careful counsel and technical guidance throughout the effort. The USGS was instrumental to the success of the expedition. Timothy Collett provided technical advice at all hours; he was (and is) a never-ending font of information on the details of exploring, drilling, coring, and logging methane hydrates. Bill Waite provided insight into methods of pressure core analysis and was a vital part of our pressure core analysis effort.
There were enormous logistical, technical and bureaucratic challenges to overcome to achieve the expedition. We acknowledge the enormous contributions of the leadership at the University of Texas: Dan Jaffe, Eric Agnew, Linda Shaunessy, and Steve Rosen played a pivotal role in contracting, insuring, and permitting this expedition with help from Judy Sansom (Senior Financial Analyst) and Jess Houghton (Project Manager). As a result of their efforts, UT is proud to be the only University ‘Qualified Operator’ conducting operations in deepwater Gulf of Mexico, United States.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) supported us through the complicated pathways necessary to drill in the Gulf of Mexico. At each new twist in the road, they helped determine the path and expedited the journey. We thank Michelle Picou, Michelle Evans, Teree Campbell, Bernadette Thomas, Jack Orion, and Jaron Ming (BOEM) and Bobby Nelson (BSEE). We also thank Sharon Angove (EPA), Jeff Harris (Louisiana Department of Natural Resources). Bill Shedd (BOEM), Stephen Palmes (BOEM), and Matt Frye (BOEM) were wonderful sources of insight into both technical challenges and regulatory processes.
Our drilling operations required the synergistic efforts of UT, Helix Well Ops, Schlumberger, Weatherford, MI-Swaco, VES Survey International, and Geotek Ltd, UK. All of the shipboard operational and technical staff of the Helix Q-4000 provided outstanding support and maintained a positive “can do” attitude throughout the expedition. Dhananjay Dhorje (DD) (Helix Well Ops Senior Project Engineer), Vish Subramani (Helix Well Ops Project Manager), Callum Cook (Helix Well Ops Senior Project Manager), Jamie Morrison (UT Marine Test Project Manager), Tessa Green (UT Project Manager), Peter Polito (UT Research Associate), Xander Ricardo Rodriguez (Senior Administrative Associate,) and Carla Thomas (UT Project Manager) successfully orchestrated the complex permitting, operational planning, and logistics and were on hand each step of the way as challenges arose. Darin Hilton (Helix Well Ops Commercial Manager) was a steady hand that supported this project from its initiation. Tom Pettigrew (Pettigrew Engineering) mixed his oilfield skills, mechanical engineering degree, and ocean drilling experience to serve ably as Company man. Geotek Coring, USA, and Geotek limited led the coring program and core analysis. The Geotek, Ltd. team was led by Peter Schultheiss, Mike Mimitz, and Melanie Holland.
