NPC Report Charts a Path to Unlock America’s Subsurface Energy Resources

America has vast energy resources beneath its feet. A new National Petroleum Council (NPC) report—requested by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)— lays out a plan to better understand these resources and turn that knowledge into more American energy.

American Resources for a Secure Future: A National Cooperative Subsurface Assessment Program offers 26 recommendations for improving how the United States finds, characterizes, assesses, and develops resources ranging from oil and natural gas to geothermal energy, minerals, geologic hydrogen, coal, and underground storage.

At the center of the report is a call for Congress to establish a National Cooperative Subsurface Assessment Program that builds on existing federal capabilities and brings together government, states, industry, universities, national laboratories, and other partners.

For the DOE’s Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office (HGEO), several recommendations stand out because they align closely with work already underway across oil and gas, geothermal energy, produced water, advanced drilling, subsurface characterization, and technology demonstrations.

From assessment to action

One of the report’s most actionable recommendations calls for DOE and the U.S. Geological Survey to increase investment in emerging subsurface technologies through public-private partnerships and research and development.

The report highlights advanced sensing, improved drilling and recovery technologies, hydraulic fracturing and stimulation, 3D subsurface models, and artificial intelligence and machine learning. These capabilities can cut across resource boundaries, helping characterize an unconventional oil reservoir, evaluate a geothermal system, or improve understanding of other resources miles below the surface.

The NPC also recommends accelerating holistic, multi-resource assessments that combine DOE technologies and pilot projects with advanced 3D models, AI, and emerging sensors. The result could be a more integrated picture of what lies underground and what new technologies may make accessible.

Oil, gas, and produced water: build on work underway

Several recommendations connect directly to HGEO’s oil and natural gas portfolio.

The NPC recommends that DOE advance unconventional oil and gas pilot projects to improve recovery technologies and inform federal assessments of technically recoverable resources. The report also calls for continued DOE support for the long-term methane hydrate production test site at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, where field testing can improve understanding of the technical feasibility of producing this potentially significant natural gas resource.

Produced water—a byproduct of oil and gas extraction—is another priority. The NPC recommends improving assessments by quantifying formation-specific produced-water volumes and constituents. Better information could help researchers and industry evaluate opportunities for beneficial reuse and other applications, turning a traditionally managed waste stream into a better-characterized potential resource.

Geothermal: more wells, better data, tougher technology

For geothermal energy, the report focuses on a fundamental subsurface challenge: gaining better access to – and information from – deep underground environments.

The NPC recommends that DOE and the Department of the Interior expand collection of high-quality thermal, hydraulic, mechanical, and chemical data from existing “wells of opportunity.” It also proposes access to a limited network of deep wells for core and fluid collection, monitoring, instrumentation, and demonstrations of unconventional geothermal technologies.

The report goes deeper still, recommending that DOE and the National Science Foundation advance materials science research and demonstrations for superhot conditions. Drilling tools and processing equipment capable of operating reliably at extreme temperatures could ultimately expand the range of geothermal resources available for development.

Build the data infrastructure beneath the infrastructure

The NPC calls for a coordinated federal-state data acquisition initiative, a National Data Portal connecting interoperable public repositories, stronger preservation of geological and geophysical records, and a review of policies governing access to proprietary industry data.

Making decades of drilling, seismic, geological, laboratory, and field data easier to preserve, combine, and analyze could reduce duplication, reveal new resource opportunities, and provide modern AI and modeling tools with richer information.

The report also recommends strengthening the subsurface workforce through collaboration among DOE, DOI, NSF, universities, state geological surveys, national laboratories, and industry—including residencies, fellowships, and internships that connect academic training with professional practice.

A cooperative model for what comes next

The NPC serves as a federal advisory committee to the Secretary of Energy, and HGEO leads DOE’s relationship with the Council, helping connect outside expertise and stakeholders with the Department’s work on energy technology and policy.

That relationship among a variety of stakeholders is reflected in the report itself. Its recommendations propose a cooperative model in which federal and state agencies, laboratories, universities, industry, and other partners bring different capabilities to a shared national objective.

For HGEO, that translates into a practical resource as the Office looks to achieve its goals: advancing technologies that see deeper, drill smarter, and recover more; demonstrating those technologies in the field; making subsurface data more useful; and building the technical workforce needed to carry that work forward.

America’s subsurface resource potential may be immense. The recommendations of the NPC offer a path for turning better knowledge of what lies beneath our feet into more secure, abundant American energy.

Visit the HGEO website to learn more. For future announcements and project updates, sign up for news alerts and follow HGEO on X, LinkedIn, and Facebook.