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The following HTML text is provided to enhance online readability. Many aspects of typography translate only awkwardly to HTML. Please use the page image as the authoritative form to ensure accuracy. TABLE J-1 DOE’s Performance Targets for Expanding Domestic ERR by 50 Tcf Through 2015
ergy.” The objective shown in the Program Plan is to develop technologies by 2015 that expand the nation’s economically recoverable resources (ERR) by 50 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) while minimizing environmental impact.3 Table J-1 lists the performance targets for expanding the domestic ERR by 50 Tcf through 2015. A variety of R&D projects are carried out in the three areas, which range widely in funding levels and duration; their descriptions are available on the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Web site.4 As noted in the “Introduction,” even though the E&P program may change as a result of Section J of the EPACT-2005, it is likely that R&D will continue in a number of the areas covered in the panel’s evaluation.5 In the President’s Budget Request (PBR) for 2007, the administration proposes to cancel the requirements in Section J of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 by means of a future legislative proposal. The FY05 budgets for the key subprograms for enhancing domestic supply in DOE’s program were as follows:
These subprograms are described in more detail in the following sections. The PBR for FY06 did not ask for money for subprograms assessed by the panel; it requested $10 million for closeout of the natural gas technologies program. Nevertheless, the Congress appropriated a total of $33 million to the program. For the subprograms addressed by the panel, these appropriations include $9 million for advanced drilling, completion, and stimulation, including Deep Trek; $4 million to continue work aimed at expanding the recoverability of natural gas from low-permeability formations; and $2 million for stripper wells and technology transfer. ASSESSMENT OF THE NATURAL GAS EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION PROGRAMThe committee’s methodology suggests that an assessment of the benefits of a specific subprogram should explicitly consider the role of DOE funding and the technical risks and market risks that can affect the outcome and the value of that subprogram’s activities. The methodology also requires that benefits be estimated under three different global scenarios representing possible future states of the world. Role of DOE FundingDOE defines the goals for its natural gas exploration and production R&D program in terms of additions to ERR that can be attributed to the success of DOE-funded research.
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