Energy Department Renews Cooperative Agreement With University of North Dakota, Investing Up to $25 Million to Bolster U.S. Energy Security and Affordability

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office (HGEO) today announced the renewal of a cooperative agreement with the University of North Dakota’s Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC), providing up to $25 million in federal funding, subject to appropriation, over five years toward the prudent development and use of the nation's hydrocarbon and geothermal energy resources. This agreement solidifies the EERC's role as a vital partner in national energy research and development and reaffirms President Trump’s commitment to American energy dominance by advancing the deployment and commercialization of innovative technologies that increase domestic energy production and deliver affordable, reliable, and secure energy for the American people.

“Targeted research and development play a crucial role in advancing our nation's energy priorities," said DOE Under Secretary of Energy Kyle Haustveit. “The innovative work undertaken by the EERC directly contributes to our ability to more efficiently maximize the potential of America’s valuable hydrocarbon resources, reduce energy costs for families and businesses, and fortify our energy infrastructure for a secure and resilient future.” 

The renewed cooperative agreement will enable the EERC to continue its critical fundamental and applied research across several key technical areas:

• Oil and Gas: Developing technologies to unlock the potential of remaining U.S. oil and gas resources, with a focus on accelerating enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in unconventional reservoirs, advancing the utilization of by-products such as produced water, and improving operational efficiency. 
   
• Coal: Supporting advanced coal utilization, including improving the characterization of coal seams for the co-production of critical minerals and rare earth elements, investigating next-generation mining and extraction techniques, and advancing waste and by-product utilization. 
   
• Geothermal Energy: Characterizing domestic geothermal resources and accelerating the deployment of geothermal energy technologies, with a focus on developing concepts to repurpose existing oil and gas infrastructure for geothermal power production.
   
• Advanced Energy and Power Systems: Enhancing efficiency, flexibility, reliability, and resiliency to lower energy costs, support growing power needs, and improve grid stability.  
   
• Capture and Utilization: Evaluating and advancing carbon capture technologies across various maturity levels, with a focus on producing low-cost, regionally sourced carbon dioxide and evaluating pathways to utilize carbon dioxide for applications such as EOR and the creation of valuable products such as fuels and chemicals.

The EERC has a long-standing history of successful collaboration with the DOE, with the initial cooperative agreement signed in 1983. In addition to the funding provided through the cooperative agreement, DOE recently announced $36 million in federal funding for EERC’s “Crack the Code 2.0” initiative, a project aimed at advancing large-scale implementation of carbon dioxide-based EOR technologies in the Bakken shale formation.

Learn about how HGEO is unleashing the full potential of America’s hydrocarbon and geothermal resources to provide affordable, reliable, and secure energy here.