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Oil and Natural Gas |
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Section of the Act |
Action |
Description |
Recent Progress |
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Sec. 317 |
Federal-State LNG Forums |
The Secretary, in cooperation and consultation with the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Governors of the Coastal States, shall convene not less than 3 forums on LNG. |
The first LNG forum was held on March 10, 2006 in Boston, Massachusetts.
The second forum was held on March 28, 2006 in Astoria, Oregon.
The third forum was held on June 1, 2006 in Los Angeles, California.
See also: DOE's LNG Forums web page |
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Sec. 354(c) |
Enhanced Oil
and Natural Gas
Production
Through Carbon
Dioxide Injection |
The Secretary shall establish a competitive program to provide grants for projects that enhance the recovery of oil or natural gas while increasing the sequestration of carbon dioxide.
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View Federal Register notice
[January 30, 2006]
View solicitation [February 1, 2006]
Pre-proposal Workshop held on February 22, 2006 in Houston, TX. |
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Sec. 372(b) |
Consultation Regarding Energy Rights-of-Way on Public Lands |
Report to Congress - Permitting Activities for Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines - Agencies that are signatories to the May 2002 document entitled "Interagency Agreement On Early Coordination Of Required Environmental And Historic Preservation Reviews Conducted In Conjunction With The Issuance Of Authorizations To Construct And Operate Interstate Natural Gas Pipelines Certificated By The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission" shall transmit to Congress a report on how the agencies under the jurisdiction of the Secretaries are incorporating and implementing the provisions of the document. |
New due date for report expected |
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Sec. 968 Sec. 4(c)(1) |
Methane Hydrate Research |
The Secretary shall establish a methane hydrates advisory panel (including the hiring of appropriate staff) consisting of representatives of industrial enterprises, institutions of higher education, oceanographic institutions, State agencies, and environmental organizations with knowledge and expertise in the natural gas hydrates field.
Report to Congress - "(i) an assessment of the methane hydrate research program; and (ii) an assessment of the 5-year research plan of the Department of Energy." |
Committee charter approved on October 11, 2005
Advisory Committee Report to Congress on assessment of the program and its 5-year plan delivered to Congress August 14, 2007.
Read the Report to Congress |
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Sec. 968 Sec. 5(b) |
Methane Hydrate Research |
Report to Congress on National Research Council Study - The Secretary shall offer to enter into an agreement with the National Research Council under which the National Research Council shall "(1) conduct a study of the progress made under the methane hydrate research and development program implemented under this Act; and(2) make recommendations for future methane hydrate research and development needs." |
Not later than September 30, 2009, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report containing the findings and recommendations of the National Research Council under this section. |
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Sec. 968 Sec. 6 |
Methane Hydrate Research |
Reports and Studies for Congress - The Secretary shall provide to the Committee on Science of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate copies of any report or study that DOE prepares at the direction of any committee of Congress relating to the methane hydrate research and development program implemented under this Act. |
Reports provided as they become available
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Sec. 999 |
Ultra-Deepwater
and
Unconventional
Natural Gas |
The Secretary shall carry out a program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of technologies for ultra-deepwater and unconventional natural gas and other petroleum resource exploration and production to maximize the value of U.S. resources by increasing supply from these resources. Key aspects include a program consortium, advisory committees, and funding from royalties, rents and bonuses derived from federal onshore and offshore oil and gas leases.
Annual Report to Congress - The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, shall provide an annual report to Congress with the President's budget on the estimated cumulative increase in Federal royalty receipts (if any) resulting from the implementation of this subtitle. The initial report under this paragraph shall be submitted in the first President's budget following the completion of the first annual plan required under this subsection.
Report to Congress - The Secretary shall retain an independent auditor, which shall include a review by the General Accountability Office, to determine the extent to which funds provided to the program consortium, and funds provided under awards made under subsection (f), have been expended in a manner consistent with the purposes and requirements of this subtitle. The auditor shall transmit a report (including any review by the General Accountability Office) annually to the Secretary, who shall transmit the report to Congress, along with a plan to remedy any deficiencies cited in the report. |
View solicitation for the program consortia [November 4, 2005]
Read December 21, 2006 Techline: DOE Invites Nominations for Two Advisory Committees
Federal Register notice published [August 15, 2007]
2007 Annual Report for the Ultra-Deepwater and Unconventional Natural Gas and Other Petroleum Resources Research and Development Program
[9.31MB PDF]
No action required until Fiscal Year 2007 |
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Sec. 1406 |
Study of the Application of Radiation to Petroleum |
Section 1406 of the Energy Policy Act (EPACT) of 2005, directs the Secretary of Energy to conduct a study of the application of radiation to petroleum at standard temperature and pressure to refine petroleum products, whose objective shall be to increase the economic yield from each barrel of oil. The goals of the study shall include: (1) increasing the value of our current oil supply; (2) reducing the capital investment cost for cracking oil; (3) reducing the operating energy cost for cracking oil; and (4) reducing sulfur content using an environmentally
responsible method. |
Funding not appropriated for study
In lieu of EPAct study, the Office of Oil and Natural Gas developed the limited study, "A Literature Review on Cold Cracking of Petroleum Crude Oil" |
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Sec. 1801(d) |
Study on Inventory of Petroleum and Natural Gas Storage |
Report to Congress - The Secretary shall conduct a study on petroleum and natural gas storage capacity and operational inventory levels, nationwide and by major geographical regions. The Secretary shall submit a report to Congress on the results of the study, including findings and any recommendations for preventing future supply shortages. |
Draft report currently being reviewed internally by DOE |
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Sec. 1809(b-c) |
Investigation of Gasoline Prices |
Evaluation - The Secretary shall direct the National Petroleum Council to conduct an evaluation and analysis to determine whether, and to what extent, environmental and other regulations affect new domestic refinery construction and significant expansion of existing refinery capacity.
Report to Congress - On completion of the evaluation and analysis under subsection (b), the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that describes: (a) the results of the evaluation and analysis; and (b) any recommendations of the National Petroleum Council. |
Draft report currently being reviewed by DOE |
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Sec. 1818 |
Natural Gas Supply Shortage Report |
Report to Congress - The Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on natural gas supply and demand. The report shall include a comprehensive analysis of, for the period beginning January 1, 2004, and ending on December 31, 2015, natural gas supply and demand in the United States. |
Press release on public comment period [November 29, 2005]
Read public comments
View presentations from December 19-20, 2005 public roundtable discussion
Read roundtable discussion
meeting summary
Report currently being reviewed internally by DOE |
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Sec. 1838 |
Used Oil Refining Study |
Report to Congress - The Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall undertake a study of the energy and environmental benefits of the re-refining of used lubricating oil and report to Congress including recommendations of specific steps that can be taken to improve collections of used lubricating oil and increase re-refining and other beneficial reuse of such oil. |
Final report [1.34MB PDF]
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Strategic Petroleum Reserve |
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Sec. 303 |
Expanding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve |
The Secretary must select sites to expand the SPR capacity to one billion barrels, the volume necessary to enable acquisition of the full authorized inventory of the SPR. The selection is dictated by the National Environmental Policy Act. The program must make conceptual designs for all of the candidate sites and perform environmental assessments for expansion of existing sites and environmental impact statements for all the candidate sites. |
Press release on public comment period [September 1, 2005]
Read public comments
See also: FE's Expanding the SPR web page
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Sec. 303(e)(2) |
SPR Crude Oil Acquisition Procedures |
The recently enacted Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-58) generally directs the Secretary of Energy to acquire petroleum to fill the SPR to the one billion barrel capacity authorized by section 154(a) of Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6234(a)) as expeditiously as practicable, without incurring excessive cost or appreciably affecting the price of petroleum products to consumers. |
Federal Register notice published [April 24, 2006] |
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Sec. 369(h) |
Oil Shale, Tar Sands, and Other Strategic Unconventional Fuels |
Report to Congress and President - The Secretary of Energy, in cooperation with the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Defense, shall establish a task force to develop a program to coordinate and accelerate the commercial development of strategic unconventional fuels, including but not limited to oil shale and tar sands resources within the United States, in an integrated manner. Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Task Force shall submit to the President and Congress a report that describes the analysis and recommendations of the Task Force. |
Final Report - Development of America's Strategic Unconventional Resources
[1.16MB PDF]
Press Release: Unconventional Fuels Task Force Completes Report of Initial Findings and Recommendations
[August 6, 2007] |
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Sec. 369(i) |
Oil Shale, Tar Sands, and Other Strategic Unconventional Fuels |
Report to Congress - Commercial Strategic Fuel Development Program - The Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that describes the activities of the Office of Petroleum Reserves carried out under this subsection. |
Final report expected in August 2006 |
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Coal and Power Systems |
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Sec. 401 |
Authorization of Appropriations for the Clean Coal Power Initiative |
Report to Congress - The Secretary shall submit to Congress the report required by this subsection not later than March 31, 2007. The report shall include, with respect to subsection (a), a plan containing? (1) a detailed assessment of whether the aggregate funding levels provided under subsection (a) are the appropriate funding levels for that program; (2) a detailed description of how proposals will be solicited and evaluated, including a list of all activities expected to be undertaken; (3) a detailed list of technical milestones for each coal and related technology that will be pursued; and (4) a detailed description of how the program will avoid problems enumerated in Government Accountability Office reports on the Clean Coal Technology Program, including problems that have resulted in unspent funds and projects that failed either financially or scientifically. |
Report in progress |
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Sec. 403 |
Clean Coal Power Initiative |
Report to Congress - Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and once every 2 years thereafter through 2014, the Secretary, in consultation with other appropriate Federal agencies, shall submit to Congress a report describing-- (1) the technical milestones set forth in section 402 and how those milestones ensure progress toward meeting the requirements of subsections (b)(1)(B) and (b)(2) of section 402; and (2) the status of projects funded under this subtitle. |
Issued update in September 2006 with future updates planned every two years. |
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Sec. 437 |
Coal and Related Programs Inventory Requirement |
Report to Congress - The Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Energy, shall review coal assessments and other available data to identify: (A) Federal lands with coal resources that are available for development; (B) the extent and nature of any restrictions on the development of coal resources on Federal lands identified under paragraph (1); and (C) with respect to areas of such lands for which sufficient data exists, resources of compliant coal and supercompliant coal. |
Final Report - Inventory of Assessed Federal Coal Resources and Restrictions to Their Development |
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Sec. 962(b)(2)(C) |
Coal and Related Technology |
Federal Register Notice - Section 962 of the EPAct directs the Secretary of Energy to conduct coal research and development programs, and in carrying out such programs, to identify proposed draft cost and performance goals for coal-based technologies that would permit the continued cost-competitive use of coal for electricity, chemical feedstocks, and transportation fuels. Not later than 120 days after enactment of the EPAct, DOE must publish in the Federal Register the proposed draft cost and performance goals for public comment. |
Federal Register notice published [December 6, 2005]
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Sec. 962(b)(2)(D) |
Coal and Related Technology |
Report to Congress - Not later than 180 days after enactment of this Act, and every 4 year thereafter, DOE must submit to Congress a report describing the final cost and performance goals for the technologies that includes: (i) a list of technical milestones; (ii) an explanation of how programs authorized in this section will not duplicate the activities authorized under the Clean Coal Power Initiative authorized under Title IV. |
Final report issued on April 28, 2006 [780KB PDF] |
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Sec. 1812(b) |
Backup Fuel Capability Study |
Report to Congress - The Secretary shall conduct a study of the effect of obtaining and maintaining liquid and other fuel backup capability at-- (A) gas-fired power generation facilities; and (B) other gas-fired industrial facilities. The Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the results of the study under subsection (a), including recommendations regarding future activity of the Federal Government relating to backup fuel capability. |
Draft report is currently being reviewed
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