<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px">Please join us Thursday, April 26 at 4:00 pm for a seminar by John Grace of Earth Science Associates on marine methane hydrates, a potential future energy resource and sometime hazard for siting offshore oil and gas platforms and wells. </P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><BR></P><P align="center" style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; "><B>John D. Grace</B></P><P align="center" style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; "><B>Earth Science Associates</B></P><P align="center" style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; "><B>April 26, 2007</B></P><P align="center" style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; "><B>4:00 - 5:30 pm</B></P><P align="center" style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; "><B>E40-496</B></P><P align="center" style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; "><B><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></B></P><P class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center;"><SPAN style=""><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><B>Methodology for High-Resolution Assessment of</B></SPAN></FONT><B><O:P></O:P></B></SPAN></P><P class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center;text-align: center; "><SPAN style=""><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><B>Marine Methane Hydrates in the Gulf of Mexico</B><BR> <BR> John D. Grace,</SPAN></FONT><A style="mso-footnote-id:ftn1" href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><SPAN class="MsoFootnoteReference"><SPAN style="mso-special-character: footnote"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3333px;">[1]</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></A><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3333px;"> William Shedd,</SPAN></FONT><A style="mso-footnote-id:ftn2" href="#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><SPAN class="MsoFootnoteReference"><SPAN style="mso-special-character:footnote"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3333px;">[2]</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></A><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3333px;"> John H Schuenemeyer,</SPAN></FONT><A style="mso-footnote-id:ftn3" href="#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><SPAN class="MsoFootnoteReference"><SPAN style="mso-special-character:footnote"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3333px;">[3]</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></A><O:P></O:P></SPAN></P><P class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center;"></P><P class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"></P><P class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center;"></P><P class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center;"><SPAN style=""><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3333px;">Jesse L. Hunt, Jr.<FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11.1111px;">2 </SPAN></FONT>and Gordon M. Kaufman</SPAN></FONT><A style="mso-footnote-id:ftn4" href="#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><SPAN class="MsoFootnoteReference"><SPAN style="mso-special-character:footnote"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3333px;">[4]</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></A><O:P></O:P></SPAN></P><P class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><SPAN style=""><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3333px;"> </SPAN></FONT><O:P></O:P></SPAN></P><P class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;text-align: justify; "><SPAN style=""><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3333px;">The concentration of marine methane hydrates (hydrates) in deep water along continental margins is a function of three general factors: thickness of the net hydrate stability zone (HSZ), the fraction of bulk HSZ volume that can be occupied by hydrates and the volume of methane charge to the HSZ. Theory and available empirical evidence provide ranges of values of variables that determine each of these three factors and, in turn, a range of possible volumes of hydrates in place. <BR> <BR> In order to generate a probabilistic projection of the volume of in-place hydrates in the Gulf of Mexico our team built a probabilistic model for each general factor and combined them into an omnibus probabilistic model of GOM hydrates. With suitable modifications the model is applicable to the US Atlantic, Pacific and Alaskan margins.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P><P class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;text-align: justify; "><SPAN style=""><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3333px;"> Net HSZ thickness responds to water depth, geothermal gradient, water bottom temperature, proximity to salt and the thickness of the sulfate reduction zone below the water bottom, which is a function of methane flux through the section. Saturation depends on porosity and the ability of hydrates to occupy pore space, both differentiated by lithology.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P><P class="MsoNormal" style=""><SPAN style=""><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3333px;"> Although both biogenic and thermogenic methane contribute to known hydrate exposures on the seafloor of the Gulf of Mexico, biogenic methane is assumed to dominate in the shallow subsurface in this phase of our work. Due to the complexity of using both thermogenic and biogenic charge and due to time constraints, only biogenic charge is considered at this time. Biogenic methane production is modeled as a function of a modified version of Arrhenius’ Law, scaled to data on the productivity of methanogenic archea in the subsurface and the influence of water flux (using permeability as a proxy) on productivity as it declines with burial. Charge is modeled by dividing migration of generated volumes between vertical and dip-driven, using the horizontal second derivative of the shape of the basement surface to approximate the latter.<BR> <BR> Approximately 200,000 2.32 km<FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11.1111px;">2</SPAN></FONT> cells cover the area of the Gulf of Mexico where water depths are great enough to support hydrate formation. The omnibus model produces a probability distribution of the total quantity of hydrates in place for each cell. Cell by cell probability distributions can be aggregated to larger regions in the Gulf or Gulf-wide. An important feature of our approach is that it supports high resolution mapping of intermediate and final results. <BR> <BR> A probabilistic projection of the fraction of in place hydrates that are technically recoverable is supported by our model’s ability to provide high-resolution, probabilistic projections of in-place volumes. These projections are, in this first phase of the study, limited to hydrates in sand and recovery only through pressure depletion.</SPAN></FONT><O:P></O:P></SPAN><SPAN style=""><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3333px;"> <BR style="mso-special-character:line-break"></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P><DIV style="mso-element:footnote-list"><BR clear="all"><DIV style="mso-element:footnote" id="ftn1"><DIV class="MsoFootnoteText"><A style="mso-footnote-id:ftn1" href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><SPAN class="MsoFootnoteReference"><SPAN style=""><SPAN style="mso-special-character:footnote"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial">[1]</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></A><SPAN style=""><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial"> Earth Science Associates, Long Beach, CA.</FONT><O:P></O:P></SPAN></DIV></DIV><DIV style="mso-element:footnote" id="ftn2"><DIV class="MsoFootnoteText"><A style="mso-footnote-id:ftn2" href="#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><SPAN class="MsoFootnoteReference"><SPAN style=""><SPAN style="mso-special-character:footnote"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial">[2]</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></A><SPAN style=""><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial"> US Minerals Management Service, New Orleans, LA</FONT><O:P></O:P></SPAN></DIV></DIV><DIV style="mso-element:footnote" id="ftn3"><DIV class="MsoFootnoteText"><A style="mso-footnote-id:ftn3" href="#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><SPAN class="MsoFootnoteReference"><SPAN style=""><SPAN style="mso-special-character:footnote"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial">[3]</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></A><SPAN style=""><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial"> Southwest Statistical Consulting, Cortez, CO</FONT><O:P></O:P></SPAN></DIV></DIV><DIV style="mso-element:footnote" id="ftn4"><DIV class="MsoFootnoteText"><A style="mso-footnote-id:ftn4" href="#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><SPAN class="MsoFootnoteReference"><SPAN style=""><SPAN style="mso-special-character:footnote"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial">[4]</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></A><SPAN style=""><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial"> Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA</FONT></SPAN></DIV><DIV class="MsoFootnoteText"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></FONT></DIV><P class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><SPAN style=""><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3333px;">John D. Grace, Ph.D., a geologist and economist, has specialized over a 20-year petroleum industry career on geologic assessment of hydrocarbon resources, prospect evaluation and modeling regional oil and gas supply. He joined the MMS-academic-industry team assessing marine methane hydrates in 2005. </SPAN></FONT><O:P></O:P></SPAN></P><P class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></SPAN></FONT></P><P class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3333px;">Light refreshment will be provided. </SPAN></FONT></P><P class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><I>Sponsored by the MIT Laboratory for Energy and the Environment</I></SPAN></FONT></P><P class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><SPAN style=""><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3333px;"> </SPAN></FONT><O:P></O:P></SPAN></P><P class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><SPAN style=""><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3333px;"> </SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P></DIV></DIV><BR><BR><DIV> <SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Karen<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> <SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></SPAN>L. Gibson</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">MIT Laboratory For Energy and the Environment</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">77 Massachusetts Avenue, E40-469</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Cambridge, MA 02139<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> <SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></SPAN>USA</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">(1 Amherst St., E40-469, Cambridge MA 02142 - for DHL and FedEx)</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Tel:<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> <SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> +</SPAN></SPAN>1 617 258-6368; Fax:<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> <SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> +</SPAN></SPAN>1 617 258-6590</FONT></P><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV><BR></BODY></HTML>