The U.S. Department of Energy has announced a new funding initiative to spur next-generation technologies to increase oil and natural gas recovery. Conner Prochaska, USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy director, spoke with KRWG's Susan Morée about the funding available and the agency's goals.
Susan Morée:
The US Department of Energy has this new funding initiative that you all have started. Tell us a little bit about it.
Conner Prochaska:
Absolutely. Well, thank you for having me on to talk about it. Our newest adventure here at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for the Department of Energy, or ARPA-E, is Unlock, and it's right there in the name. It's unlocking new levels of output and capacity for key subsurface resources, really working to unlock not what's possible today, but what the future is with some new and exciting technologies that go beyond hydraulic fracturing to see what the next level of enhanced recovery can be, not just with oil and gas, but also geothermal power and critical minerals as well, which are literally critical for so many of the technologies and activities that we're trying to do here in the United States.
Susan Morée:
Why develop a new generation of technology?
Conner Prochaska:
So right now there are estimates that we're leaving upwards of 80% of the resource down whole. And there's a remarkable ability and opportunity to continue to increase production and to really help establish that we are doing, what President Trump and Secretary Wright have mandated, which is American energy dominance by outpacing demand. We continue to want to have more power here in the United States for a range of opportunities to grow the economy and to keep the economy moving forward and also to better human life, not just here in the United States but around the globe. And that's really what this opportunity is about, making sure we can get those resources out to help enhance the quality of life here in the United States and around the world.
Susan Morée:
And do you all have any sense that there are people out there who have some ideas about a new generation, or a next generation of technology that they'd like to develop, but they just don't have the funding for it?
Conner Prochaska:
Yes, yes. And a lot of times what happens is these are just not quite there. At ARPA-E, we want to work on the unknown, the unexplored, and the unbelievable. That's what we do. We're a high risk, high reward agency that goes for what's next. Again, not what's possible today, but what can be next. And we know that with new sensing technologies and new models, with the rise of superintelligence, there are things that may not have been possible or believable a decade ago. That may be ripe for some research to move them into the next step. And another thing that we do at ARPA-E specifically is we ask the question, if it works, will it matter? A lot of things work in laboratories, but then they don't work thousands of feet down the hole. And so ARPA-E has a mandate to make sure that we work to make sure that our technologies have impact. They're not just science for the sake of science. They're technologies that can be used in the practical world. And so it's an exciting piece of opportunity here right now because we know there's technologies out there and we want to see what the best ideas are. We're not trying to prescribe a specific idea, but we know that American ingenuity caused the shale revolution and we're confident that American ingenuity can come up with what's next.
Susan Morée:
And does the DOE have any sort of idea or goal in terms of how much the agency would like to see in an increase in oil and natural gas recovery with some of these next generation technologies?
Conner Prochaska:
We do. We put metrics on our programs. And again, in many places, people say, well, that's unbelievable, but that's what we do at ARPA-E. And so our goal for this program is to double the recovery of downhole resources, which is a very lofty goal. One percent, 2% would be very exciting for most companies and activities. We want to double it. And that's a big goal, but that's where ARPA-E plays.
Susan Morée:
And hydraulic fracturing has a bad name, so to speak, amongst conservationists. Are you hoping that any of these next generation technologies will be quote unquote cleaner?
Conner Prochaska:
We would hope, I mean, one of the areas that we're looking at is waterless technologies, again, beyond hydraulic fracturing and what we can do. But the water itself is a big resource and a big piece of the component right now with current technologies. And so we would think that it'd be very economical and impactful if we could go to what's next.
Susan Morée:
And how big are some of these funding initiatives going to be per company, do you think?
Conner Prochaska:
So it's $45 million, and ARPA-E likes to stay somewhere in that $4 or $5 million range. So we're looking, based on the ideas that we get, a few more or a few less than 10 projects would probably be selected. But we still haven't gotten the applications yet, and we're going to make sure we find the very best technologies that are proposed and work to make sure we effectively and efficiently use taxpayer resources for the best ideas we possibly can.
Susan Morée:
And there are some really huge oil and gas companies, but there's also, thousands of really small producers. Are you guys going to be looking to evenly distribute the funding so that the little companies can compete against the big guys?
Conner Prochaska:
We do, and one of the things that we do is we try to fund diverse applicants, whether they're small businesses or big companies. And we also encourage teaming of organizations, whether it's a research institution, a university, a big company, a small company are some of our most successful projects here at ARPA-E because we want to focus on the impact and making sure things can actually get out into the field and be practical. Getting teams with private companies together and research entities has been very successful for ARPA-E in the past 18 years of our existence.
Susan Morée:
And Conner, is there anything I haven't asked you that you think I should have?
Conner Prochaska:
I'll just close with, this is an exciting opportunity to continue to move forward the American energy dominance agenda. And we think that this is an opportunity to continue to push on enhanced recovery for the resources that help improve the quality of life, not just of the United States of America and Americans, but people around the world. Energy is life, and this is an opportunity to continue to produce energy that outpaces the demand and keep the economy moving forward and really fulfill President Trump's energy dominance agenda and promise.
Susan Morée:
Okay, well, thank you so much, Conner. I know you're a really busy man, so I really appreciate your taking the time to talk to me.
Conner Prochaska:
All right, great. Thank you so much, Susan.
The deadline to apply is the end of December and awards are expected to be announced in the first quarter of 2027. For more information, visit
https://arpa-e.energy.gov/research/resources
