In 1995, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted the first systematic assessment of the in-place natural-gas-hydrate resources of the United States. That study suggested that the permafrost-associated gas hydrates on the Alaska North Slope may contain as much as 590 tcf (16.7 tcm) of in-place gas. However, the Alaska North Slope gas-hydrate assessment failed to identify or characterize the nature of individual gas-hydrate accumulations or prospects.

Detailed analysis and interpretation of available two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) seismic data, along with seismic modeling and correlation with specially processed downhole well-log data, have lead to the development of a viable method for identifying subpermafrost gas hydrate prospects within the gas-hydrate stability zone (GHSZ) and associated sub-gas-hydrate free-gas prospects in the Milne Point area of northern Alaska. This study has revealed a total of 14 gas-hydrate prospects in the Milne Point area. The seismic data, in conjunction with geophysical modeling results from a related study, was also used to further characterize the thickness and concentration of gas-hydrate occurrences within the delineated prospects. A Monte-Carlo-style statistical analysis of the seismic and well-log-derived reservoir data indicates that the gas-hydrate prospects in the Milne Point area may hold about 668.2 (18.9 bcm) bcf of gas.