Table of Contents

Vol. 6, No. 1
1st Quarter 2000

Federal Energy Technology Center Named Newest National Lab

The US Department of Energy announced the establishment of the 15th National Laboratory in December. The Federal Energy Technology Center, with campuses in Morgantown, WV and Pittsburgh, PA, is being renamed the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).

The designation, on December 10, 1999, of FETC as the newest national lab signals the Department of Energy’s commitment to fossil fuels as a continuing important energy source nationally and internationally. NETL will have a focus on fossil fuel research, and will "help continue to fuel America’s economy at the same time as we clean up the environment," said DOE Secretary Bill Richardson at the press conference.

"Energy and the environment… will continue to be key to our national and international security and quality of life," he continued.

A newly created part of NETL, the Center for Advanced Natural Gas Studies, will help to strengthen research capabilities in the natural gas arena. The center will be responsible for coordinating development of new technologies to improve the way gas is found and produced as well as new ways to make the future use of natural gas cleaner and more efficient.

Richardson said, "We’re counting on natural gas to meet many of our energy and environmental goals for the next 10 or 20 years or more." The center, he hopes, will become the primary place within the US Department of Energy for gas research from borehole to burner tip.

Secretary Richardson told the NETL's 4,000 researchers, partners and professional staff who work at both campuses of NETL, "Because of the important work you do, I want you to have the full status of a National Lab—the full rank and prestige. I want the world to know that this is the place to come to see what is on the horizon for fossil energy technology. I want this to be a lot more than just a name change. I am serious about wanting this site at Morgantown and your companion site at Pittsburgh to become the ‘center of the universe’ for fossil energy and environmental technology." 

"For example," Richardson added, "the way you establish research and development partnerships with industry and universities provides a ‘built-in’ technology transfer mechanism. It works, and I don’t want to change it. I want to use the prestige of a national laboratory to stimulate new technology alliances in this region of the country." 

For information, contact Damon Benedict, NETL phone 304-285-4913, email dbened@fetc.doe.gov.

Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, and Rita Bajura, NETL director,
accompany US Energy Secretary Bill Richardson as he signs the new national lab designation.

PTTC Cosponsors Session During IPAA Midyear Meeting

The presentation, "A Well Completion Technique for Controlling Unconsolidated Sand Formations by Using Steam," will be given by Scott Hara, Tidelands Oil Production Company, on May 20 during the IPAA Midyear Meeting in San Francisco.

Speaking at PTTC's joint session with IPAA's Crude Oil Committee and Supply and Demand Committee, Hara will discuss a competitively-priced and superior well completion technique for controlling unconsolidated sand formations by injecting high temperature and pressure steam to geochemically bond the sand grains in the perforation tunnels. It has been applied in 12 horizontal wells and 22 vertical wells with over 90% of the wells capable of production or injection after two years.

The study being presented is part of the U.S. Department of Energy Class III Reservoir Program to improve oil recovery in the Slope and Basin Clastic reservoirs.

Hara is the Chief Production Engineer at Tidelands, with technical expertise in reservoir engineering of  thermally enhanced oil recovery and waterflooding projects. He has over 24 years experience in the industry having worked throughout California, Prudhoe Bay, and internationally with Exxon, Sante Fe Energy Resources and Tidelands.