The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) selects six projects to receive approximately $30 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development in unconventional oil and natural gas recovery. The projects, selected under the Office of Fossil Energy’s (FE’s) Advanced Technology Solutions for Unconventional Oil and Gas Development funding opportunity, will address critical gaps in the understanding of reservoir behavior and optimal well-completion strategies, next-generation subsurface diagnostic technologies and advanced offshore technologies.
As part of the funding opportunity and at the direction of Congress, DOE solicited field projects in emerging unconventional plays with less than 50,000 barrels per day of current production, such as the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale and the Huron Shale. The newly selected projects will help the DOE master oil and gas development in these types of rising shales, along with bolster DOE efforts to strengthen America’s energy dominance, protect air and water quality, position the nation as a global leader in unconventional oil and natural gas (UOG) resource development technologies and ensure the maximum value of the nation’s resource endowment is realized, according to the DOE.
All six projects reportedly represent a critical component of DOE’s portfolio to advance the economic viability and environmentally sound development of domestic UOG resources and support ongoing programmatic efforts in both onshore and offshore UOG research. These efforts include (1) improving understanding of the processes involved in resource development; (2) advancing technologies and engineering practices to ensure these resources are developed efficiently with minimal environmental impact and risk; and (3) increasing the supply of U.S. oil and natural gas resources to enhance national energy dominance and security, according to the DOE.
The selected projects are the Hexagonal Boron Nitride Reinforced Multifunctional Well Cement for Extreme Conditions; Hydraulic Fracture Test Site II (HFTS2) – Delaware Basin; Eagle Ford Shale Laboratory: A Field Study of the Stimulated Reservoir Volume, Detailed Fracture Characteristics, and EOR Potential; In-Situ Applied Coatings for Mitigating Gas Hydrate Deposition in Deepwater Operations; Tuscaloosa Marine Shale Laboratory (TMSL); and Field Laboratory for Emerging Stacked Unconventional Plays (ESUP) in Central Appalachia.
For more information about the projects, visit: www.energy.gov
