[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 70 (Tuesday, April 11, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19364-19365]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-8892]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Availability of a Financial Assistance Solicitation

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology 
Laboratory (NETL).

ACTION: Notice of Availability of a Financial Assistance Solicitation.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy announces that it intends to conduct 
a competitive Program Solicitation (DE-PS26-00BC15304) and award 
financial assistance (cooperative agreements) for

[[Page 19365]]

the program entitled ``Identification and Demonstration of Preferred 
Upstream Management Practices (PUMP) for the Oil Industry.'' The 
Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory 
(NETL), on behalf of the National Petroleum Technology Office (NTPO), 
seeks cost-shared research and development applications for 
identification of preferred management practices (PMP) addressing a 
production barrier in a region and the documentation of these practices 
for use by the oil industry. The near-term goal is to increase current 
domestic oil production quickly.
    Awards will be made to a limited number of applicants based on the 
economic and technical merit of the application, the integrated 
approach and technical understanding, the technical and management 
capabilities of the applicant organization(s), the planned technology 
transfer activities, and availability of DOE funding.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith R. Miles, U.S. Department of 
Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, Acquisition and 
Assistance Division, P.O. Box 10940, MS 921-143, Pittsburgh PA 15236-
0940, Telephone: (412) 386-5984, FAX: (412) 386-6137, E-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Solicitation Number: DE-PS26-00BC15304.
    Awards: DOE anticipates issuing financial assistance (cooperative 
agreements) for each project selected. DOE reserves the right to 
support or not support, with or without discussions, any or all 
applications received in whole or in part, and to determine how many 
awards will be made. Subject to availability of funding, DOE expects to 
provide funds totaling $4.8 million. The program seeks to sponsor 
projects for a single budget/project period of 24 months or less. Due 
to the low risk and near-term nature of the PUMP program and the 
potential for a process or technology demonstration, all applicants are 
required to cost share at a minimum of 50% of the project total. 
Details of the cost sharing requirement, and the specific funding 
levels are contained in the solicitation.
    Solicitation Release Date: This Program Solicitation (available in 
both WordPerfect 6.1 and Portable Document Format (PDF)) is expected to 
be ready for release on or about April 15, 2000 and will be available 
from NETL's World Wide Web Server Internet System at http://www.netl.doe.gov/business. Telephone requests, written requests, E-mail 
requests, or facsimile requests for a copy of the solicitation package 
will not be accepted and/or honored. Applications must be prepared and 
submitted in accordance with the instructions and forms contained in 
the solicitation. The actual solicitation document will allow for 
requests for explanation and/or interpretation.
    Background: The National Petroleum Technology Office of the 
Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) has authorized 
DOE's National Energy Technology Lab (NETL) to act on its behalf and 
solicit cost-shared applications for identification of preferred 
management practices (PMP) addressing a production barrier in a region 
and the documentation of these practices for use by the industry. The 
near-term goal is to increase current domestic oil production quickly.
    The mission of the Department of Energy's Fossil Energy Oil Program 
is driven by the needs of the oil producers. The overall program is 
designed to develop unique technologies and processes to locate 
untapped resources; to extend the life of domestic energy resources; 
and to reduce well abandonment--all essential to maximizing the 
production of domestic resources while protecting our environment. The 
National Petroleum Technology Office's Preferred Upstream Management 
Practices (PUMP) program as a part of this overall goal is designed to 
facilitate production of existing oil reserves more quickly without 
sacrificing efficiency or environmental protection.
    Based on prior successful results from demonstrations of under-
utilized or advanced technology coupled with reservoir 
characterization, the DOE Oil Program seeks to demonstrate that the 
identification and use of PMP can overcome regional constraints to 
increased production. The program will accept proposals that combine 
the identification of preferred management practices (PMP) to overcome 
regional production constraints and aggressive technology transfer that 
will promote the use of those practices. Barriers can be identified as 
technical, physical, regulatory, environmental, or economic. The 
selected projects are expected to employ the following four (4) 
strategies in order to have a rapid impact on production: (1) focus on 
regions that present the biggest potential for additional oil 
production quickly, (2) integrate solutions to technological, economic, 
regulatory, and data constraints, (3) demonstrate the validity of these 
practices either through field demonstration during the project or 
documentation of well-run successful past demonstration, and (4) use 
known technology transfer mechanisms.
    Using a regional approach where the projects will have a wide 
applicability, an integrated approach scheduling tasks along parallel 
paths to facilitate a quicker response, and operating with existing 
networks, the production results in the field should be accelerated. 
The documentation and evaluation of the PMP will be a valuable resource 
to all producers in the applicable area and possibly other regions as 
well.
    This program expects near-term results and actions that will create 
data or technological resources suitable for long-term use. Teaming is 
encouraged and the proposal partners could include, but not be limited 
to, producers, producer organizations, universities, service companies, 
State agencies or organizations, non-Federal research laboratories, and 
Native American Tribes or Corporations. They will demonstrate practices 
and/or technologies that can increase production, increase cost 
savings, or rapid returns on the capital investments of the operators. 
New technologies/processes or under-used but effective applications of 
existing technologies/processes critical to a region will be 
demonstrated.
    The DOE will make publicly available over the Internet the data on 
preferred practices resulting from this program. The resulting publicly 
available databases of the preferred practices will be interactive, 
Internet accessible, should include both technologies and practices, 
and address constraints in the exploration, production, or 
environmental areas.

    Issued in Pittsburgh, PA on April 4, 2000.
Dale A. Siciliano,
Deputy Director, Acquisition and Assistance Division.
[FR Doc. 00-8892 Filed 4-10-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P