Natural gas hydrates are solid inclusion compounds composed of water and gas. They form as methane hydrates under elevated pressure and lower temperature conditions in marine sediments along continental margins. They bind large volume of natural gas worldwide and may alter the strength of the upper sediment package along the margins based on their morphology, volume, and the stability conditions. Up to date, neither the quantification of gas hydrate resources nor the impact of gas hydrates on sediment stability or slope failures are well constrained. This is despite their importance for the usage of the continental slope and the exploration as well as exploitation of the unconventional hydrate reservoirs. Related studies are an essential component of current field studies, experimental research, modelling, and technical development.
This session aims at bringing together experts in these fields in order to exchange know-how as well as identify knowledge gaps. In this context we would like to invite contributions from studies in gas hydrate research as specified above.

Recent decreases in the world oil/gas reserves imply that energy producers and consumers are facing a major challenge. Therefore, a thorough exploration and production strategy needs to be carried out to sustain the world energy production level. This session is devoted to present the newest advances in oil and gas exploration and production technologies as well as well as their associated environmental risks and economic benefits. It will be regarded new geophysical monitoring methods for intensify the oil exploration. They will be supported by new results in modelling and inverse problem solutions in a frame of block layer structures with hierarchic inclusions of different anomaly parameters features.

Unconventional hydrocarbon resources such as Shale Gas, Tight Sands, and Gas Hydrates are becoming an important source of energy with increasing demand for them in the last years. The session is devoted to advances in technologies and case studies relevant to the to exploitation and exploration for unconventional hydrocarbon resources. Submitted abstracts may be related to the the following topics:
1-Shale Gas, Tight Sands, and Gas Hydrate exploration.
2-Fractured unconventional reservoirs.
3-Unconventional resources and the environment.
4-Shale Gas and Tight Sands drilling.
5-Exploitation of hydrocarbons from
unconventional resources.