Measures which reduce the risk of hydrate formation include : At sufficient depths , methane complexes directly with water to form methane hydrates , as was observed during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 . BP engineers developed and deployed a subsea oil recovery system over oil spilling from a deepwater oil well below sea level to capture escaping oil . This involved placing a dome over the largest of the well leaks and piping it to a storage vessel on the surface . This option had the potential to collect some 85 % of the leaking oil but was previously untested at such depths . BP deployed the system on May 7 – 8 , but it failed due to buildup of methane clathrate inside the dome ; with its low density of approximately 0.9 g/cm3 the methane hydrates accumulated in the dome , adding buoyancy and obstructing flow
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Methane clathrate