US Department of Energy commits $65.5M to boost domestic oil and gas production  

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced up to $65.5 million in federal funding for cost-shared research, development, and deployment projects to strengthen domestic oil and natural gas production.  

The funding will be used to improve the efficiency and reliability of critical energy infrastructure and convert underutilized resources.  

It will also support technologies that maximize the productivity of existing infrastructure, expand the capacity and performance of energy delivery systems, and strengthen the resilience of America’s oil and natural gas supply chain.  

The funding opportunity supports President Trump’s Executive Order, “Unleashing American Energy,” aimed to ensuring Americans have access to affordable, reliable, and secure energy through the responsible development of the nation’s abundant oil and natural gas supplies, the DOE said.  

“The Energy Department is making strategic investments to strengthen America’s oil and natural gas industry and reinforce the critical infrastructure that powers our economy,” DOE Under Secretary of Energy Kyle Haustveit said in a news release. 

 “This funding opportunity will help American producers eliminate waste, improve efficiency, and deliver the affordable, reliable, and secure energy that powers our economy and strengthens our national security.” 

The DOE has released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) seeking innovative proposals that address: 

Stranded and underutilized resources 

Develop and validate technologies to transform oil, natural gas, and associated product streams—including those that would otherwise be stranded, flared, or limited by contaminants—into high-value, readily transportable products. Funded projects will progress from laboratory-scale validation of new catalysts, reactor systems, and separation processes to field-testing modular, decentralized gas conversion systems and sour gas processing facilities in active production basins. 

Enhance supply chain durability and infrastructure reliability 

 Develop, validate, and field-test advanced materials, innovative equipment, and novel infrastructure components to prevent product losses and bolster domestic chemical supply chains. This includes improving facility-level equipment and transport infrastructure—such as compressors, valves, piping, storage tanks, coatings, and alloys—to maximize safe and efficient energy delivery. 

Optimize operations through digitalization and smart test sites 

 Accelerate the adoption of digital technologies, smart facility concepts, and advanced analytics to improve operational efficiency, safety, and reliability within the upstream and midstream oil and natural gas sector. Projects will utilize full-scale, field-based validation platforms and test sites to deploy continuous monitoring systems, artificial intelligence-supported digital twins, and infrastructure optimization systems that increase saleable hydrocarbons, reduce operating costs, and track the technical maturity of emerging technologies. 

The announcement builds on DOE’s recent $150 million funding opportunity, which focuses on enhancing recovery efficiency from unconventional oil and gas reservoirs, advancing hydraulic fracture characterization technologies, and developing innovative approaches for produced water management.