DE-AC26-07NT42677

Goal
The goal is to maximize the value of indigenous U.S. natural gas and other petroleum resources with a focus on near-to-mid-term results. Priority resources to be addressed include ultra-deepwater natural gas and onshore unconventional natural gas (tight gas sands, gas shales, and coalbed methane), which have been identified by the National Petroleum Council (NPC) and others as strategic areas for future natural gas supplies. The program will increase the supply of these resources through implementation of a research program to reduce recovery cost and increase the efficiency of exploration and production (E&P) while improving safety and minimizing environmental impacts. An additional goal is to provide small producers with the tools to develop natural gas and other petroleum resources and the knowledge base to effectively increase production and resource recovery.

Performer
Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America (RPSEA), Sugar Land, TX 77478

Results
The RPSEA organization currently has more than 130 members and continues to grow. RPSEA is governed by a Board of Directors and has multiple advisory committees, which aid in program development. RPSEA submitted their first draft Annual Plan to DOE/NETL on April 3, 2007. This plan was proposed to cover the first two funding years of the project. The recommendations presented in the draft Annual Plan were incorporated into DOE’s Annual Plan for Section 999 of the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005. The DOE Annual Plan was reviewed by two Federal Advisory Committees established by EPAct, with their recommendations and comments submitted to DOE on July 24 and 25, 2007. DOE/NETL revised the Annual Plan accordingly and submitted it to the Secretary of Energy for approval. The plan was approved on August 1, 2007 and has been submitted to Congress and published in the Federal Register. Subsequently, the R&D funds for the program were released to DOE, at which time RPSEA was permitted to release their first solicitations. The first solicitations were released in October, 2007.

Seven projects were selected for award under the Small Producers Program and 19 were selected for the Unconventional Resources Program. A list of these projects can be found on the RPSEA website [external site]. A total of 13 solicitations have been released under the Ultra-deepwater program and awardees have been selected for 2 projects to date, It is anticipated that awardees for the other solicitations will be selected in the coming months. Information regarding the selected projects can be found on the RPSEA website.

RPSEA has also submitted a draft Management Plan, a draft Solicitation Process, and a draft High-Level Metrics Plan to DOE/NETL for review.

In the initial draft Annual Plan, RPSEA narrowed the scope of the program to eight major theme areas:

• Four Ultra-Deepwater field types;
• Three Unconventional Onshore resource types, and;
• One Small Producer technology challenge.

For each of these major themes, a number of sub-themes have been developed to help guide the solicitation process. Additional information on these sub-themes can be found in the 2007 Annual Plan [PDF-9.24MB].

Background
In August 2005, President Bush signed the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) into law; the first national energy plan in more than a decade. EPAct Sections 965, 968, and 999 all support oil and gas R&D. The first two of these sections relate to programs that DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) are already implementing. Section 999, however, adds a new dimension to the overall DOE oil and gas R&D effort, enhancing opportunities to demonstrate technologies in the field and accelerate their implementation in the marketplace.

The Ultra-Deepwater and Unconventional Natural Gas and Other Petroleum Resources Program launched by Section 999 is a public/private partnership designed to increase America’s domestic oil and gas supply and reduce dependency on imports. A portion of the funding is to be directed towards cost-shared research partnerships, while another portion is to be used by NETL to carry out complementary R&D.

Section 999 sets the funding for this program at a level of $50-million-per-year over 10 years, provided from Federal lease royalties, rents, and bonuses paid by oil and gas companies. The funds are to be directed towards research specifically targeting four areas: ultra-deepwater resources (35%), unconventional natural gas and other petroleum resources (32.5%), technology challenges of small producers (7.5%), and fundamental research complementary to these areas (25%). The complementary research is to be performed by NETL, while all other research is to be administered by the consortium overseen by NETL. Each year, RPSEA will develop and submit to DOE a draft Annual Plan which DOE will use to develop the DOE Annual Plan for Section 999.

Summary
The 2007 Annual Plan for the Ultra-Deepwater and Unconventional Natural Gas & Other Petroleum Resources Program has been approved, submitted to Congress and published in the Federal Register. The funds for the program have been released to DOE, and RPSEA has begun the solicitation process. Solicitations for the first round of R&D project proposals will be forthcoming in the fall of 2007.

In November 2007, RPSEA submitted their recommendations for the 2008 Annual Plan to NETL. Because the Draft Annual Plan RPSAEA submitted in April 2007 was a two year plan, the recommendations submitted for 2008 were recommended changes to the final 2007 Annual Plan DOE submitted to the Secretary of Energy. The draft 2008 Annual Plan was submitted to the two Federal Advisory Committees in early January 2008. The Federal Advisory Committees held their first meeting to review the plan on January 29-30, 2008 in Houston, TX and a second meeting on March 4-5, 2008 in Washington, DC. A third meeting was held via conference call on March 13, 2008 for each committee to vote on and approve their recommendations for the 2008 Annual Plan. NETL will incorporate the appropriate recommendations into the 2008 Annual Plan and submit it the Secretary of Energy for approval.

RPSEA released it's first solicitations for the Small Producers Program and the Unconventional Resources Program in October 2007 and proposals were due on December 3, 2007. The proposals were reviewed by technical advisory committees and RPSEA had project review and selection meetings for both programs in January 2008. Seven projects were selected for award under the Small Producers Program and 19 were selected for the Unconventional Resources Program. A list of these projects can be found on the RPSEA website. A total of 13 solicitations have been released under the Ultra-deepwater program and awardees have been selected for 2 projects to date. It is anticipated that awardees for the other solicitations will be selected in the coming months. Information regarding the selected projects can be found on the RPSEA website.

Current Status
RPSEA will release its approved solicitations for 2008 following the Secretary of Energy’s approval of the 2008 Annual Plan , which is expected in early May 2008. RPSEA is currently developing the solicitations and will submit to NETL for review and approval. For the Unconventional Resources Program, RPSEA will strive to fill in the gaps of the program as a result of the projects selected from the 2007 solicitation. It is anticipated that the solicitations will be released in the June-July timeframe and will be open for a minimum of 60 days. Additional information on RPSEA and the upcoming solicitations can be found on the RPSEA website.

Project Start: January 4, 2007
Project End: January 3, 2017

DOE Contribution: $356,250,000 (over ten years)
Performer Contribution: $8,677,845

Contact Information
NETL – Gary Covatch (gary.covatch@netl.doe.gov or 304-285-4589)
RPSEA – Mike Ming (mming@rpsea.org or 281-313-9555)

Additional information:
Program Factsheet [PDF]

First Annual Plan [PDF-9.31MB]