Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0001693
The Department of Energy (DOE), through its Office of Fossil Energy and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), issued this Request for Information (RFI) under funding opportunity number DE FOA 0001693 to collect feedback on research and development needs across several oil and natural gas topic areas. The purpose is not to make immediate awards, but to gather practical, technical input from stakeholders on where the most important technology gaps exist and what scientific research would be most valuable to address them. The subject areas highlighted in the title include unconventional oil and natural gas development, beneficial use of produced water, offshore spill prevention, natural gas conversion, and offshore carbon dioxide storage and enhanced oil recovery (CO2 storage/EOR). The overall intent is to shape or inform DOE research priorities by identifying problems that are limiting performance, safety, environmental outcomes, cost, or deployment at scale.
In terms of the administrative setup, the opportunity is categorized as discretionary and lists “cooperative agreement” as the funding instrument type, which is a common DOE mechanism when an eventual solicitation involves substantial federal involvement in project direction. The activity category is energy, and the associated CFDA number is 81.089. Eligibility is described as unrestricted, meaning any applicant type can generally respond, subject to details that would normally appear in the full eligibility language. Even though the posting includes fields like an “award ceiling” and “expected awards,” the description makes clear this is an RFI, so the immediate action DOE is seeking is information rather than project applications. In other words, respondents are being asked to submit thoughtful input that could guide future funding opportunities, research roadmaps, or program decisions.
The technical scope spans multiple problem sets. For unconventional oil and natural gas, the request signals interest in research gaps that affect extraction and production from shale and other tight formations. Typical areas of concern in this domain often include improved subsurface characterization, better understanding of fracture behavior and reservoir response, methods to reduce costs and emissions, mitigation of induced seismicity risks, and technologies that improve recovery while lowering environmental impacts. By asking for “critical gaps,” DOE is essentially looking for where current tools, data, or scientific understanding are insufficient and where targeted research could materially improve operational efficiency, safety, or environmental performance.
A second focus area is the beneficial use of produced water, which refers to water brought to the surface during oil and gas production that can contain salts, hydrocarbons, naturally occurring radioactive materials, metals, and treatment chemicals. The “beneficial use” framing points toward research needs that would enable produced water to be treated and reused safely, rather than disposed of, potentially supporting applications like industrial use, agriculture (where appropriate), or water management in arid regions. Input in this area typically relates to treatment technologies, monitoring and sensing, desalination challenges, cost and energy requirements, management of residual waste streams (like brines and sludges), and risk-based standards that protect human health and ecosystems while enabling practical reuse.
Offshore spill prevention is another key area, reflecting ongoing federal interest in avoiding releases during offshore exploration and production. Research gaps here often involve well integrity, blowout prevention reliability, real-time monitoring and diagnostics, safer operational practices, improved materials and component testing under deepwater conditions, and systems engineering approaches that reduce the likelihood of cascading failures. NETL’s request for input suggests they want respondents to identify where current offshore safety technology is weak, what kinds of testing or modeling are missing, and which innovations could measurably lower spill risk.
The RFI also highlights natural gas conversion, which broadly covers technologies that convert methane or natural gas into higher-value products such as liquid fuels, chemicals, hydrogen, or other commodity feedstocks. Research needs in this space frequently include catalytic processes, modular or distributed conversion systems, improved selectivity and efficiency, reduced greenhouse gas footprint, and pathways that make economic sense at different scales (including smaller, remote, or stranded gas resources). By including this topic, DOE is signaling interest in science and engineering advances that could expand how natural gas is utilized beyond direct combustion, potentially improving value and reducing emissions intensity depending on the pathway.
Finally, offshore carbon dioxide storage and enhanced oil recovery (CO2 storage/EOR) points to research needs for injecting CO2 into subsurface formations beneath offshore environments, either to increase oil recovery or for long-term storage as part of carbon management strategies. The “offshore” emphasis introduces specific technical considerations such as site characterization under seabed conditions, monitoring and verification in marine settings, wellbore integrity, containment assurance, plume modeling, and understanding geomechanical behavior. For EOR, additional gaps often include optimizing injection strategies, managing produced fluids, and ensuring that storage objectives are met alongside production goals. Input in this area would help DOE understand what science is still needed to improve storage security, operational safety, and cost-effective deployment.
For submission logistics, DOE required that RFI responses be sent electronically as email attachments to RFI-UOG@netl.doe.gov, with a deadline of 8:00 pm Eastern Time on December 16, 2016. The opportunity record notes the creation date as October 25, 2016, and the original closing date as December 16, 2016. Only electronic responses were accepted, reinforcing that this was a structured information-gathering effort rather than an open-ended public comment channel.Apply for DE FOA 0001693
- The Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Research Needs Related to Unconventional Oil and Natural Gas, Beneficial Use of Produced Water, Offshore Spill Prevention, Natural Gas Conversion, and Offshore Carbon Dioxide Storage/Enhanced Oil Recovery" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.089.
- This funding opportunity was created on Oct 25, 2016.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Dec 16, 2016 Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to RFI-UOG@netl.doe.gov no later than 800 pm (ET) December 16, 2016. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. Only electronic responses will be accepted.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2.00 in funding.
- Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.
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