The Gas Technology Institute (GTI) is no stranger to research projects aimed at getting more out of unconventional resources. Unconventional gas alone contributes to more than 46% of U.S. gas production.

The institute announced today that it has finalized and signed a contract for a multi-year program with the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America (RPSEA) to lead a field-based research consortium focused on meeting U.S. natural gas demand and lowering costs for consumers. The consortium is comprised of GTI and 14 participants, including producing companies Atlas Gas & Oil, Aurora Oil and Gas, BreitBurn Energy, CNX Gas Corp., Inflection Energy, NGAS Resources, Noble Energy, and Trendwell Energy Corp.

The principal objective of this project is to develop techniques and methodologies for increasing the success rate and productivity of New Albany shale gas wells to a level at which the otherwise noncommercial wells become commercially viable. The consortium will be conducting joint research targeting the 10.5 Tcf of technically recoverable gas in the New Albany Shale formation, with the overall goal of converting it to an economically recoverable resource.

Noted Guy Lewis, GTI managing director of supply—Exploration & Production, "One key to increasing the supply of natural gas is to develop unconventional supplies, and for these we need new technologies. We’re excited about the opportunity we have to add value to efforts to increase supplies of affordable domestic energy that generates less greenhouse gas than many other sources."

Funding for this project is provided through the Ultra-Deepwater and Unconventional Natural Gas and Other Petroleum Resources Research and Development Program authorized by the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005, a program funded by lease bonus and royalties paid by industry to produce oil and gas on federal lands. RPSEA is under contract with the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory to administer the unconventional natural gas and other petroleum resources exploration and production program element under the EPAct Section 999 Program.

For more information, visit www.gastechnology.org.