Invited by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory of USA, on August 2, Dr. Li Gang and Dr. Su Zheng, from Natural Gas Research Center of GIEC, went to the Department of Earth and Sciences, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, for three-month co-research.
　 During the visit, Dr. Li and Dr. Su, together with Dr. George Moridis and Dr. Keni Zhang, who are from Lawrence Berkeley national laboratory, jointly conducted the numerical simulation analysis for the exploitation potential of natural gas hydrate in Northern South China Sea.
　 This is the first step of the cooperation based on the consensus researched previously from both sides. With the software of TOUGH+Hydrate developed by Lawrence Berkeley national laboratory, Dr. Li and Dr. Su conducted numerical simulation analysis for the natural gas hydrate exploitation potential on SH2 and SH7 sites of Shenhu Area of the South China Sea, where the natural gas hydrate samples were obtained successfully.
　 The exploitation method, which combines depressurization and thermal stimulation, was used during the numerical simulation. The differences of exploitation between the vertical and horizontal wells were studied and compared. The gas and water production rates were evaluated according to the currently available date. Some parameters, such as the permeability of the sediment of the seabed、saturation of the natural gas hydrate and the temperature and pressure situations of the seabed were analyzed. The exploitation prospect of natural gas hydrate in the Shenhu Area of the South China Sea was evaluated thoroughly. 
　 During the cooperation, two academic papers with the titles of “Evaluation of Gas Production Potential from Marine Gas Hydrate Deposits in the Shenhu Area of the South China Sea: Depressurization and Thermal Stimulation Methods” and “Numerical Investigation of Gas Production Strategy for the Hydrate Deposits in the Shenhu area” were completed successfully by Dr. Li and Dr. Su.
　  After the visit, Dr. Wu, the director of the natural gas hydrate center and Dr. George Moridis is going to continually put great efforts to the further successful cooperation in various aspects.