PA Environment Digest Blog: US DOE Announces $150 Million In Funding Available To Support Oil & Gas Wastewater Treatment, Processing; Enhanced Unconventional Oil & Gas Recovery; Advanced Fracking, Well Diagnostics Projects

On July 6, the US Department of Energy announced up to $150 million in federal funding for cost-shared projects aimed at advancing three critical priorities for the U.S. oil and natural gas industry-- developing innovative solutions for oil and gas wastewater management, dramatically improving recovery efficiency from unconventional oil and gas reservoirs, advancing hydraulic fracture characterization technologies.

Click Here for the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). The deadline to apply is October 5.

This initiative advances President Trump’s Executive Order , “Unleashing American Energy,” and the Secretarial Order “Unleashing the Golden Era of Energy Dominance,” to provide affordable, reliable, and secure energy to all Americans through the responsible development of our nation’s abundant domestic oil and natural gas supplies.

“Under President Trump's leadership, we are unleashing America's energy potential to secure our nation's future,” said DOE Acting Assistant Secretary of the Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office Curt Coccodrilli.

“By unlocking more of our domestic oil and natural gas resources, improving our understanding of hydraulic fracturing, and innovating in produced water management, we are not only creating jobs and lowering energy costs for American families, we are also driving innovation that will benefit our economy for generations to come.”

DOE has released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) seeking innovative proposals that address technical, economic, and environmental barriers across the following areas, with a focus on increasing domestic energy production and strengthening American energy dominance--

-- Advanced Field-Testing of Multi-Scale Produced Water Treatment Technologies and Processes: Produced water management remains a growing challenge across major U.S. producing basins. In 2025 alone, Permian Basin operations produced an estimated 22 million barrels of water per day, while operators in the Appalachian Basin and other regions continue to face significant water handling and disposal costs. Funding in this area will support the field testing of advanced produced water treatment technologies and processes that can reduce subsurface disposal, facilitate beneficial reuse, and mitigate associated environmental risks.

-- Enhanced Recovery from Unconventional Oil and Gas Reservoirs: With recovery rates from unconventional reservoirs often below 10%, significant oil and gas resources remain untapped. Funding in this area will support the rapid field deployment of novel technologies and processes—including exploring the potential of carbon dioxide as an injectant—to improve oil and gas extraction, increase the recovery factor, and lower the break-even cost of primary recovery operations to increase the efficiency of our national resources and provide more affordable energy.

-- Advanced Characterization of Fracture Propagation, Proppant Behavior, and Well Diagnostics: Advanced hydraulic fracture characterization builds upon years of successful partnerships between DOE, industry, and research institutions. In unconventional reservoirs, productivity is governed by hydraulic fracturing, making a detailed understanding of fracture propagation, proppant behavior, and reservoir response critical to efficient field development. Funding in this area will support advanced diagnostics and characterization technologies to improve operational effectiveness and enhance resource recovery.

Click Here for the DOE announcement.

PA Oil & Gas Industry, Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - July 4 to 10: 4,200 Gallon Contaminated Water Spill; Cleaning Up Spills For 15 Days, 270 Days, 484 Days And Counting [PaEN]

-- DEP: Lola Energy Petroco Reported 4,200 Gallon Spill Caused By Contaminated Water Eating Thru A Pipe Fitting At Shale Gas Well Pad In Allegheny Twp., Butler County [PaEN]

-- DEP - Day 15: Contaminated Water Continues To Leak From Pipes Cut During Restoration At Equitrans Water SVC Richter Shale Gas Water Impoundment In Greene County [PaEN]

-- DEP - Day 270: Petro Erie Inc. Experiences Leaks From Refurbished Contaminated Water Storage Tanks At Conventional Well Site In Venango County After October 2025 Spill [PaEN]

-- DEP - Day 484: Oil & Gas MGMT Inc. Took No Actions To Finish The Cleanup Of Conventional Well Spills Or Respond To DEP Violations In Westmoreland County [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - July 11 [PaEN]

-- DEP Issues Final Water Quality Permits For The Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage Appalachian Reliability Natural Gas Pipeline Project In Armstrong, Greene and Westmoreland Counties [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On A Chapter 105 Permit For A Seneca Resources Co 16-Inch Shale Gas Water Pipeline Running Through Farmington & Chatham Townships, Tioga County [PaEN]

-- Energy Transfer Asks PUC To Dissolve Sunoco Pipeline Company And Transfer Assets To 2 New Companies-- One For Natural Gas Liquids Pipelines Like Mariner East Pipelines And Another For Refined Petroleum Product Pipelines [PaEN]

-- DEP published notice in the July 11 PA Bulletin inviting comments on a Mothball Plan notification received from PEI Power, LLC concerning a Title V Air Quality Permit for two landfill gas fired turbines in Archbald Boro, Lackawanna County. (PA Bulletin, Page 4180)

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Hearing July 30 On Water Withdrawal Requests, Including 2 Related To Shale Gas Development [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 63 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In July 11 PA Bulletin [PaEN]

-- DEP Restarts Comment Period On Corrected Major Amendment To Homer City Generation Data Center Project Industrial Wastewater Facility Permit In Indiana County [PaEN]

-- DEP To Hold Aug. 4 Hearing On Major Modification To Waste Permit For Blythe Recycling & Demolition Waste Site Landfill In Schuylkill County [PaEN]