Marine Gas Hydrate Research Activities

The Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) funds marine gas hydrate research activities under Assistance Listing 15.428, with the most recent grant award issued on July 17, 2017.

This program has not been active in a meaningful funding sense for nearly a decade. The portfolio contains only four awards total, spanning 2009 through 2017, with irregular cadence (single awards in 2009, 2010, 2013, and 2017). Combined federal dollars obligated total $1.3 million across all awards. The program funds research into methane hydrate resource assessment, with recent award examples including a controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) marine survey of Green Canyon 955 in the Gulf of Mexico awarded to Scripps Institution of Oceanography ($94,921), and support for a Center for Marine Resources and Environmental Technology (CMRET) gas hydrate observatory facility ($1,024,927). All awards in the portfolio are Cooperative Agreements, reflecting the program's requirement for substantial involvement by BOEM scientists in study development or conduct.

BOEM is the sole funding agency under this Assistance Listing. Typical award magnitudes range from under $100,000 to approximately $1 million, though the portfolio reflects extreme volatility and sparsity.

The most recent solicitation posted on June 8, 2017 (closing August 9, 2017) was a targeted cooperative agreement announcement directed specifically at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography; the solicitation explicitly stated "This is not an open solicitation for proposals" and noted that "No other applications are requested at this time" and "No other proposals are requested at this time, although additional opportunities may be announced in the future." No subsequent opportunities have been posted in the source material, and no funding has been disbursed since mid-2017. Pursuit of this program should be considered inactive unless and until a new solicitation appears.