Improved Oil and Gas Recovery and Produced Water Management Technologies
This cooperative agreement funds U.S. R&D projects that improve unconventional oil and gas recovery efficiency and field-test produced-water treatment technologies for domestic eligible entities, including institutions of higher education.
⚑ Domestic entities only · Cooperative agreement · Includes field testing and validation; emphasis on rapid deployment/industry uptake · Supports treatment of flowback and produced water to avoid deep-well injection and induced seismicity
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 90 strong | technical depth: central; funds applied research |
| IPPRA | 45 partial | portfolio topics: energy, environment (primary); social/behavioral work is none; funds applied research; capped at 45 (limited social-science role) |
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 45 partial | funds applied research; prototyping/demonstration stage; deep-tech content |
Description
This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) will seek proposals for specific research and development (R&D) projects to improve recovery efficiency from unconventional oil and natural gas reservoirs and to advance technologies for the treatment of flowback and produced water from oil and natural gas production operations. Despite increasing energy for demand, recovery efficiency for oil and natural gas from unconventional reservoirs can average less than 10 percent. This NOFO will enable rapid field deployment of a variety of novel technologies and processes related to improving primary and enhanced recovery with the goal of significantly improving resource recovery and accelerating industry uptake. This NOFO will also support the field testing and validation of water treatment technologies of produced water from oil and natural gas production operations to avoid deep well injection and potential issues with induced seismicity and interaction with underground sources of drinking water.
Eligibility
The following types of domestic entities are eligible to participate as a recipient or subrecipient of this NOFO: • Institutions of higher education (as defined in Title 20 U.S.C. § 1001) • For-profit organizations • Nonprofit organizations • State and local government entities • Indian Tribes (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, 25 U.S.C. § 5304)
Apply
View on Grants.gov → CONTACT: National Energy Technology Laboratory <jessica.sartor@netl.doe.gov>
Proposal brief SEE AN EXAMPLE →
A one-page internal memo: fit assessment, submission requirements, document scaffold, and next steps dated back from the deadline — tailored to your project idea if you add one.
Proposal shell · Department of Energy conventions SEE A DOE EXAMPLE →
Funder-faithful document skeletons — Department of Energy's document set with section headings, page limits, reviewer guidance, and writing prompts; add a project idea to get [DRAFT] starter bullets. Download as .md for Word or Overleaf.