[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 238 (Friday, December 11, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68439-68440]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-32994]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Availability of Solicitation Entitled Reservoir Class 
Field Demonstration Program--Class Revisit

AGENCY: National Petroleum Technology Office (NPTO) through the Federal 
Energy Technology Center (FETC), DOE.

ACTION: Notice of Issuance of Financial Assistance Solicitation.

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SUMMARY: The U. S. Department of Energy's National Petroleum Technology 
Office (NPTO) in conjunction with the Federal Energy Technology Center 
(FETC) announces that it intends to issue a competitive Program 
Opportunity Notice (PON), DE-PS26-99BC15144, and to award financial 
assistance (Cooperative Agreements) to qualified recipients. Through 
the issuance of this PON, the DOE is presenting the next round of 
solicitations which addresses U.S. vulnerability to supply disruptions 
by expanding the domestic supply of oil production from the domestic 
resource. Proposals will be subjected to a comparative merit review by 
DOE technical panel, and awards will be made to a limited number of 
proposers on the basis of the scientific merit of the proposals, 
application of relevant program policy factors, and the availability of 
funds.

DATES: The Program Solicitation is expected to be ready for release on 
or about December 18, 1998. Applications must be prepared and submitted 
in accordance with the instructions and forms in the Program 
Opportunity Notice and must be received by the DOE by April 1, 1999. 
Prior to submitting your application to the solicitation, check for any 
changes (i.e. closing date of solicitation) and/or amendments, if any.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Keith R. Miles, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Federal Energy Technology Center, P.O. Box 10940 (MS 921-143), 
Pittsburgh, PA 15236-0940; (Telephone: 412-892-5984; Facsimile: 412-
892-6216; E-Mail: [email protected]).

ADDRESSES: The solicitation will be available through the Internet at 
FETC's Home Page (http://www.fetc.doe.gov/business). TELEPHONE REQUESTS 
WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED FOR ANY

[[Page 68440]]

FORMAT VERSION OF THE SOLICITATION.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This solicitation supports two of the 1998 
Comprehensive National Energy Strategy (CNES) goals, which are (1) to 
ensure against energy disruptions and (2) to promote energy production 
and use in ways that reflect human health and environmental values. The 
focus is to reduce U. S. vulnerability to supply disruptions by 
expanding the domestic oil supply. Petroleum reservoirs have been 
classified based on the geology of the reserve and the environment of 
deposition. Depositional environments of the fluvial dominated deltaic 
type (Class I), shallow shelf carbonates (Class II), and slope and 
basin clastics (Class III), support these goals because they contain 
50% of the domestic remaining oil in place. Further background material 
is given in the DOE Oil and Gas R & D Programs (DOE/FE-0359, March 
1997) document. The strategy targets three groups of depositionally 
similar reservoirs based on the premise that demonstrated methodologies 
and technologies that overcome specific producibility problems in 
representative reservoirs have a higher probability of being applicable 
to other members of that same class than to non-class reservoirs. This 
solicitation addresses program goals of preserving access to reservoirs 
with high potential for increased productivity. These goals will be 
accomplished by conducting technology transfer activities that motivate 
operators to identify producibility problems and apply underutilized 
technologies to overcome these problems.
    These reservoirs represent the higher priority reservoir classes. 
An assessment of about 2000 domestic reservoirs in the Total Oil 
Recovery Information System (TORIS) showed these classes to have a 
large volume of remaining oil, a large potential for additional 
recovery using conventional recovery technologies, and a high risk of 
abandonment of the resource in the next five years.
    Advanced recovery technologies represent a significant improvement 
in process effectiveness (i.e., greater sweep efficiencies, improved 
economics, or evaluation techniques) or applicability over currently 
available technologies or represent a new or innovative technology not 
successfully demonstrated in the field.
    Advanced technologies, as defined in this PON, include advanced 
reservoir characterization techniques, advanced recovery technologies 
and advanced reservoir management techniques. The understanding of the 
interaction of the reservoir architecture is essential to these 
advanced technologies. These technologies should not have been 
previously addressed in the same region and reservoir class. DOE 
discourages repeating the same suite of technologies in the same plays 
as the previous class programs.
    Some examples of advanced technologies or some combination of 
technologies are:

Advanced Reservoir Characterization Technologies or Tools:

     New geophysical imaging or interpretation techniques.
     Three-dimensional simulation.
     Advanced or high resolution 3-D seismic.
     Geochemical techniques.
     Advanced well and tracer tests.
     Advanced logging techniques such as borehole imaging or 
permeability logging.

Advanced Recovery Technologies:

     Mobility control agents.
     Steam processes.
     Gas processes.
     Horizontal & lateral(s) (radial) wells.
     Miscible solvents.
     Chemical processes.
     In-situ combustion.

Advanced Reservoir Management Techniques

     Reservoir modeling/simulation.
     Fracture stimulation.
     New geostatistical methodologies.
     Novel or innovative recompletions.
     Injection strategies and pressure maintenance.
     Material balance decline curve techniques.

    Note: Pure tool development is excluded under this solicitation.

    DOE currently has available $8.3 million for this Program 
Opportunity Notice (PON) and intends to bring total DOE support to $18 
million for this solicitation. Projects must include: reservoir 
characterization (Budget Period 1), demonstration/field activities 
(Budget Period 2), continued project monitoring activities (Budget 
Period 3); moreover, technology transfer should be a major component of 
all Budget Period activities and should aim to motivate operators 
toward broader application of cost-effective technologies/
methodologies. It is anticipated that between 10-20 cost-shared awards, 
with a total project value estimated at $1.5 million to $10.0 million 
each (i.e., DOE share of project costs estimated at between $500K-
$3,000K), will be made under this solicitation. The proposer must cost 
share at least 55 percent of the total allowable cost of Budget Period 
1 for reservoir characterization, at least 65 percent of the total 
allowable cost of Budget Period 2 for the demonstration phase, and at 
least 90 percent of the total allowable cost of Budget Period 3 for 
continued project monitoring activities. Each project is expected to 
have a period of performance of approximately five (5) to six (6) 
years.

    Issued in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on December 2, 1998.
Dale A. Siciliano,
Contracting Officer, Acquisition and Assistance Division.
[FR Doc. 98-32994 Filed 12-10-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P