GH dissociation takes place in the reservoir. The transformation of the solid GH into gas and free water begins next to the well, and moves outward over time as dissociation continues. The well design must allow for the production of natural gas with variable amounts of free water. GH wells will be more complex than most conventional and unconventional gas wells because of a number of technical challenges, including:

• Maintaining commercial gas flows with high water production rates. The water production from a GH reservoir could be highly variable, and water-to-gas ratios in excess of 1,000 bbls/MMSCF (i. e., 100 times larger than what is expected in conventional gas wells) are possible. This requires some form of artificial lift.

• Operating with low temperatures and low pressures in the wellbore to prevent hydrate formation or freezing in the wellbore and flowlines—this is critical for onshore developments producing from below thick permafrost layers. Coupled with the high water production, this requires larger wellbore, tubing, and flowlines in order to minimize friction losses.

• Controlling formation sand production into the wellbore.

• Ensuring well-structural integrity with subsidence in the reservoir and GH dis­sociation around the wellbore.

Technologies exist to address all of these issues, but add to development costs, especially compared to other nonconventional sources of natural gas. GH develop­ment also has one distinct challenge compared to other unconventional resources, and that is the high cost of transportation to market. Additionally, GH developments cannot be effectively drilled at the close well spacing that is used in heavy oil because of the much lower value of gas.