a method of drilling into a geological region including a subsurface clathrate reservoir includes drilling a borehole into the geological region including the subsurface clathrate reservoir and dissociating at least a portion of the clathrate in a region near the borehole . after the dissociating , material within at least a portion of the region near the borehole in which the clathrate has been dissociated is compacted to form a compacted region at least partially surrounding the borehole within the clathrate reservoir . after the compacting , well casing is placed into the borehole within the compacted region and the well casing is cemented into the borehole in the compacted area .