The Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America (RPSEA) selected eight proposals under the unconventional resources program and three proposals under the small producer program for negotiations leading to the awarding of $12.4 million.
The awards are a part of the US Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory program for ultradeepwater and unconventional natural gas and other petroleum resources research and development program established under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
The project and project lead for the unconventional resources program are:
• NORM mitigation and clean water recovery from Marcellus frac water, GE Global Research.
• Lowering drilling cost, improving operational safety, and reducing environmental impact through zonal isolation improvements for horizontal wells drilled in the Marcellus and Haynesville shales, CSI Technologies Inc.
• Development of noncontaminating cryogenic fracturing technology for shale and tight gas reservoirs, Colorado School of Mines.
• Novel engineered osmosis technology: a comprehensive approach to the treatment and reuse of produced water and drilling wastewater, Colorado School of Mines.
• A geomechanical analysis of gas shale fracturing and its containment, Texas A&M University.
• Diagnosis of multiple fracture stimulation in horizontal wells by downhole temperature measurement for unconventional oil and gas wells, Texas A&M University.
• Predicting higher-than-average permeability zones in tight-gas sands, Piceance basin: an integrated structural and stratigraphic analysis, Colorado School of Mines.
• Technology Integration Program. Houston Advanced Research Center
The project and project lead for the small producer program are:
• Game changing technology of polymeric-surfactants for tertiary oil recovery in the Illinois basin, Power Environmental Energy Research Institute.
• Predicting porosity and saturations from mud logs and drilling information using artificial intelligence with focus on a horizontal well, Correlations Co. Inc.
• Identifying and developing technology for enabling small producers to pursue the residual oil zone fairways of the Permian basin, San Andres, University of Texas of the Permian Basin.
