The National Energy Technology Laboratory awarded six research projects to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories to advance fundamental shale research. The two-year projects will investigate the processes associated with hydrocarbon extraction from unconventional shale reservoirs and lead to a better understanding of factors affecting prudent resource development.
With recovery efficiencies at less than 30 percent for natural gas and 10 percent for oil, as well as environmental concerns related to development practices, continued research is needed. The six projects were originally selected as 18-month projects in response to NETL’s FY2014 Fundamentals of Unconventional Reservoirs Lab Call and received a total of $3.6 million in DOE funding. Based on their merits, they were recently extended for an additional twoyear period.
