§15910 Enhanced Oil and Natural Gas Production Through Carbon Dioxide Injection

Summary

Encourages using captured carbon dioxide and similar gases to boost oil and gas recovery and store carbon. It lets the Interior Department reduce royalty payments on eligible federal offshore or onshore leases if that helps get more oil or gas and serves the public interest. The Interior Secretary must publish an advanced notice of rulemaking within 180 days after August 8, 2005, and finish the rulemaking within 365 days after that date. A lease is eligible if it is federal, will use gas injection for enhanced recovery, and the Secretary finds the oil or gas would likely stay in the ground without the royalty cut. The rule can limit the royalty reduction by market price and must cap a suspension volume at no more than 5,000,000 barrels of oil equivalent per eligible lease. The rule applies to leases issued before, on, or after August 8, 2005. The Energy Department must run a competitive grant program to fund CO2 injection projects that increase recovery and sequester CO2. The demo program can fund up to 10 projects in the Williston Basin and 1 in the Cook Inlet Basin. Applications must include project plans, production and sequestration estimates, cost details, and plans for data sharing and long-term sustainability. The Energy Secretary will pick projects after peer review, give priority to cost-effective projects that sequester CO2 from human sources and limit environmental harm, and require cost-sharing. No applicant may get more than $3,000,000. Projects must begin construction within 2 years of the grant and no later than December 31, 2010, and grant funding may not exceed 5 years. The Interior, through BLM, must keep records of CO2 stored on federal leases. Funds are authorized as needed.