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 Section 999 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.