The Department of Energy's (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) intends to issue, on behalf of the DOE Strategic Center for Natural Gas and Oil, a Funding Opportunity Announcement entitled "Environmental and Unconventional Oil Technology Solutions to Oil and Gas Resource Development" The overall objective of this activity is to initiate Research and Development (R&D) to address a broad spectrum of environmental and Exploration and Production (E&P) issues associated with unconventional resource development including, but not limited to, those indentified from the 2007 Oil Shale Environmental Issues and Research Needs Workshop. Issues related to unconventional oil and enhance oil recovery (EOR) include those associated with the Bakken Shale and like resource plays, the Arctic North Slope and other resources/areas with significant environmental and/or technological barriers. It is anticipated that the following Topic Areas will be addressed through this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA): Topic Area 1 Environmental R&D The scope of work related to this area will address the constraints to development of domestic natural gas and oil resources, the top priorities identified in the 2007 Oil Shale Environmental Workshop, and the environmental issues that impact access to Alaskas energy resources. Area 1.1 Produced Water and Other Natural Gas and Oil Environmental Issues Applications are sought to develop lower-cost produced water treatment and/or handling technologies, such as down-hole separation. Applications are sought to develop technologies or scientific data to allow the economic beneficial use of produced water. Applications may also address specific ecological or environmental regulatory concerns that limit producers options for managing produced water, including surface discharge.(scientific studies to support new water discharge standards) Area 1.2 Water Management Solutions to Enable Oil Shale Resource Development Development of an integrated basin/regional baseline for surface and groundwater data (quality and quantity) and GIS-based analytical tools for analyzing and working with the data. Process-specific research to evaluate generated constituents and water consumption, and evaluation of Best Available Control Technology. Area 1.3 Alaska Environmental Issues Develop technology and strategies for beneficial use of water produced with coalbed natural gas for village use in arctic climates. Tundra access (which include hydrology, lake-water use, ice road building techniques (alternatives to ice roads) Impact of climate change on aging infrastructure. Topic Area 2 Unconventional Oil R&D The scope of work related to this area will address aspects of Unconventional and Enhanced Oil Recovery. These include: Area 2.1 Unconventional Resources Development and demonstration of advanced technologies to improve oil recovery during primary production from shale and other unconventional formations including liquids from the Bakken Shale of North Dakota and Montana. Reservoir/basin characterization, laboratory studies and reservoir modeling of enhanced recovery techniques including gas re-pressurization, waterflooding and improved recovery(e.g., CO2 flooding) to recover oil remaining after primary production in unconventional resources including, but not limited to, the Bakken Shale of North Dakota and Montana. Area 2.2 Alaska North Slope Heavy Oil Perform chemical and microbial characterization of North Slope heavy oils for viscosity reduction. Development of lab scale viscous/heavy oil extraction techniques. Develop pilot-scale testing of heavy oil upgrading technology. (including coal or natural gas processes) Arctic heavy oil resource development issues Area 2.3 Enhanced Oil Recovery EOR technologies, processes and strategies; Pilot test promising thermal, chemical and microbiological injection systems to the point that industry develops enough confidence to assume remaining risks. National Laboratories will not be permitted to participate as the Prime Recipient in response to this Funding Opportunity Announcement. However, National Laboratories will be allowed to participate as team members/subcontractors in a limited capacity. All cost share must be from non-Federal sources and is based on the percentage of total allowable cost for the proposed project. The total allowable cost of the project is the sum of the Government share, the National Lab costs (if applicable), and the recipient's share of allowable cost. DOE envisions awarding multiple financial assistance agreements in the form of cost-share cooperative agreements. DOE anticipates making the Funding Opportunity Announcement available in or around the third of March, 2008. The Funding Opportunity Announcement will be available for viewing at Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov) and at the DOE's Industry Interactive Procurement Systems (IIPS) or "e-center" (https://e-center.doe.gov). Applicants are encouraged to register at these sites to receive notification of announcements posted by the National Energy Technology Laboratory. If and when the Funding Opportunity Announcement is released, applications will only be received through Grants.gov. DOE will not entertain questions at this time. Once the Funding Opportunity Announcement has been released, a "submit questions" feature will be defined. However, comments related to this FOA can be submitted to
contact@example.gov through March 25, 2008. DISCLAIMER This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of DOE's intention to issue this Funding Opportunity Announcement. Any of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change depending on the needs of the Strategic Center for Natural Gas and Oil program. Funds are not presently available for this FOA and any projects selected under this announcement will be contingent upon the availability of appropriated Fiscal Year 2008 funds.
