New Oil and Gas Projects to Enhance Energy Security, Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
WASHINGTON, DC -- Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham today announced the selection of 35 new cost-shared projects that promise to strengthen our nation’s energy security and reduce greenhouse emissions. In announcing the awards, Secretary Abraham lauded the wide-ranging projects as “an investment in our future that will benefit the Nation for years to come.” The total award value of the new projects is more than $39 million.
“President Bush’s National Energy Policy calls attention to the continuing need to strengthen our energy security, modernize energy infrastructure, and accelerate the protection and improvement of the environment,” Secretary Abraham said. “It also calls for promoting enhanced oil and gas recovery, and improving oil- and gas-exploration technology to increase domestic energy supplies. The new projects meet all of these important national goals.”
Awards were made in four research areas:
1.
Two projects will develop drilling technology for high-speed downhole motors.
2.
Thirteen projects will improve advanced diagnostics and imaging technology.
3.
Fourteen projects will advance reservoir efficiency processes.
4.
Six projects will help ensure the delivery reliability for natural gas.
Several of the projects have an additional benefit. By focusing attention on the increased use of CO2 for enhanced oil recovery, they may allow more CO2 to be injected into geologic formations. Not only could more oil be produced, but in this win-win scenario, the greenhouse gas CO2 would be prevented from entering the atmosphere.
The projects extend from two to five years, and will be managed for the Energy Department by the Office of Fossil Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory.
A. Drilling Technology for High-Speed Downhole Motors
Projects to develop high-speed downhole motors suitable for drilling with high-speed drill bits in harsh downhole environments are the focus of this research area. High-speed drilling can potentially reduce costs and minimize the environmental impact of developing oil wells. While the development of high-speed drill bits is progressing steadily, a suitable downhole motor is needed to fully develop the capabilities of the high-speed bits.
Two projects were selected in this focus area to accelerate novel motor design and testing:
1. APS Technology Inc. (Cromwell, Conn.) will design and test an efficient, reliable gearing system coupled with a conventional positive-displacement mud motor to produce rotary speeds up to 10,000 rpm, matching the requirements of new drill bits under development. By changing the gear ratio, the motor may be adapted to a variety of bits and drilling requirements. The use of high-speed motor and bit combinations could greatly increase drilling speed, and reduce the cost of developing wells. The use of smaller diameters and coiled tubing drilling in conjunction with these systems could further reduce costs.
(Project duration: 2 years; Total award value: $998,851)
2. Impact Technologies LLC (Tulsa, Okla.) and the University of Missouri at Rolla will perform a technical feasibility study of an advanced, high-speed electric motor in an inverted configuration, and will demonstrate the suitability of the design for ultra-high-speed drilling. The design will allow very high internal pressures and the use of difficult fluid mixtures. It will also allow wired instruments to measure formation and drilling parameters immediately behind the lead bit while drilling. Other advantages include high performance over a wide range of operating conditions, versatility, and controllability. Stacked and/or multiple motors can also be used in the bottomhole assembly, and these can rotate in opposite directions for balanced torque on the reduced-size drillstring.
(Project duration: 2 years; Total award value: $221,322)
Complete listing of all projects and more here:
http://www.energy.gov/engine/content.do?PUBLIC_ID=16960&BT_CODE=PR_PRESSRELEASES&TT_CODE=PRESSRELEASE