The Department of Energy has scheduled a Jan. 31 meeting in Washington, D.C., to chart a new course for the U.S. government's oil and gas research programs.
DOE's policy at present is to provide funds only for high risk oil and gas research in the 10-20 year time frame - research it said companies don't perform.
Now DOE is considering funding shorter term research to help oil and gas producers in the next 1-5 years.
Deputy Sec. Henson Moore said, "Our best hope for stemming the dangerous rise in oil imports is to slow the decline in oil production at home.
"For many domestic oil fields, that means better information and better technology now, not just in the 21st century.
"We no longer have the luxury of concentrating solely on long range developments when there are advances that can help our industry in the immediate future. That is the signal we want to send face to face to the oil patch through this meeting."
POLICY, ANALYSES
DOE has invited a number of oil and gas researchers to the meeting. They will be given drafts of DOE's proposed policy and will be asked to comment on it. Their comments will be considered when DOE drafts an oil and gas research program proposal it is required to submit to Congress in March.
Attendees also will be given DOE analyses of oil field abandonments and other trends.
Moore said those documents "send the warning signals that have influenced our policy shift."
He said, "Obviously, we won't be able to fund every project that industry thinks is important, but if we can agree on priorities and strategies, we make the hard choices somewhat easier."
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