1 CONTENTS Gas Hydrate-Bearing Sand Reservoir Systems in the Ofshore of India: Results of the India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 .............. 1 The Potential for Abiotic Methane in Arctic Gas Hydrates ................. 9 Coupled Thermo-Hydro-Chemo- Mechanical (THCM) Models for Hydrate-Bearing Sediments ....13 Emerging Issues in the Development of Geologic Models for Gas Hydrate Numerical Simulation................19 Announcements ...................... 23 • DOE/NETL FY2016 Methane Hydrate Funding Opportunity Announcement • Fiery Ice 2016: June 15-17 in Honolulu • Ninth Int’l. Conference on Gas Hydrates: June 25 - 30, 2017 in Denver • OTC Panel to Discuss Gas Hydrates • SEAB Methane Hydrates Task Force Report Published • Gas Hydrates Science and Technology Assessment Published • 2016 Hydrates Fellowship Awarded Spotlight on Research .......... 26 Mr. K.M. Shukla CONTACT Ray Boswell National Energy Technology Laboratory, Pittsburgh, PA 412-386-7614 ray.boswell@netl.doe.gov Methane Hydrate Newsletter 2016 Vol. 16, Issue 1 GAS HYDRATE-BEARING SAND RESERVOIR S YSTEMS IN THE OFFSHORE OF INDIA: RESULTS OF THE INDIA NATIONAL GAS HYDRATE PROGRAM EXPEDITION 02 P. Kumar, ONGC; T.S. Collett, USGS; K. Vishwanath, DGH; K.M. Shukla, ONGC; J. Nagalingam, ONGC; M.V. Lall, ONGC; Y. Yamada, JAMSTEC; P. Schultheiss, Geotek; M. Holland, Geotek The India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 (NGHP-02) was conducted from 3-March-2015 to 28-July-2015 off the eastern coast of India using the deepwater drilling vessel Chikyu (Figure 1). The primary goal of this expedition was to explore for highly saturated gas hydrate occurrences in sand reservoirs that would become targets for future production tests. The first two months of the expedition were dedicated to logging-while- drilling (LWD) operations, with a total of 25 holes drilled and logged. The next three months were dedicated to coring operations at 10 of the most promising sites. With a total of five months of continuous field operations, the expedition was the most comprehensive dedicated gas hydrate investigation ever undertaken. Figure 1. The deepwater D/S Chikyu, as deployed during NGHP-02, was designed by the Japanese government for international scientifc drilling operations.