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Oil and Natural Gas Supply
 Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Ultra-deepwater and Unconventional Resources Program)

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Announcements & Documents:

Oil and Gas R&D RFPs Issued
The first round of requests for proposals (RFPs) have been issued for the 2008 solicitation of ultra-deepwater research projects under Title IX, Subtitle J, Section 999 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Six RFPs have been posted to the RPSEA website as of Tuesday, December 23, 2008. Interested parties are encouraged to click on the link above for information. Responders are encouraged to submit proposals well in advance of the due date; March 3, 2009. The RFPs are focused on the following areas:

  • Equations of State (EOS) Improvement for Extreme High Pressure and High Temperature
  • Coil Tubing Drilling and Intervention System Using Cost Effective Vessels
  • New Safety Barrier Testing Methods
  • Deepwater Riserless Intervention Systems
  • Modeling and Simulation of Managed Pressure Drilling for Improved Design, Risk Assessment, Training, and Operations; and
  • Student Design Projects and Novel Technology Solicitation.
A second round of RFPs on other topic areas related to the ultra-deepwater element of the program will be released in the near future. For additional details related to the Department’s Subtitle J, Section 999 research program, please refer to the 2008 Annual Plan, available here.

New Research Solicitation Published
Requests for Proposals have been published soliciting research ideas focused on two areas: developing technologies to enable the economic development of additional unconventional shale gas and tight sand resources, and developing technologies to help small producers increase production from mature fields. These RFPs are being announced pursuant to Title IX, Subtitle J, Section 999 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and are part of the second annual round of solicitations to be announced by the consortium in charge of administering research contracts under this legislation, the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America (RPSEA). Details of these RFPs are now available on the RPSEA website homepage, or link directly to the RPSEA Request for Proposals page. An additional solicitation for research projects focused on ultra-deepwater technologies will follow soon.

The Ultra-Deepwater and Unconventional Natural Gas and Other Petroleum Resources Research and Development Program 2008 Annual Plan [PDF] was published in the Federal Register on August 27, 2008.

DOE has announced the selections for the 2008 - 2010 Ultra-Deepwater Advisory Committee (UDAC) and the Unconventional Resources Technology Advisory Committee (URTAC).

The Federal advisory committees will meet to begin review of the Draft 2009 Annual Plan. The UDAC will meet on September 9-10, 2008 and the URTAC will meet on September 11-12, 2008. Both meetings will be held in Alexandria, VA. Previous reviews of the 2007 Annual Plan and the 2008 Annual Plan resulted in written recommendations, many of which have already been implemented.

The committees will reconvene in Houston, TX on October 15, 2008 (UDAC) and October 16, 2008 (URTAC) to hear and discuss the subcommittee reports and to determine their final recommendations. A final teleconference meeting will be held on October 23, 2008 to review and finalize their recommendations report, and to adjourn work on the 2009 Annual Plan. All meetings of the committees are open to the public.

Draft 2009 Annual Plan [PDF-1.47MB]

2008 Annual Plan [PDF-15.6MB]

Archived Announcements and Documents

In August 2005, President Bush signed into law the first national energy plan in more than a decade. Since the passage of EPAct, the Department of Energy, along with partners across the government and in the private sector, has been working aggressively to implement its key provisions. One that pertains to the Office of Fossil Energy is Title IX, Subtitle J of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 which states, “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.” The legislation identifies NETL as the DOE entity responsible for review and oversight of this program and the Ultra-Deepwater and Unconventional Natural Gas and Other Petroleum Resources Program outlined here is the implementation of this legislative direction.

Twenty-one other key provisions of the Act pertain to activities to be carried out by the Office of Fossil Energy. These range from performing research on methane hydrates to expanding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to preparing reports for Congress on a wide range of topics relevant to the national energy strategy. Progress on all of these activities is described on the DOE-Fossil Energy website.

 
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