§16296 Low-volume Oil and Gas Reservoir Research Program

Summary

The Secretary must create a research and testing program to get more oil and gas out of low‑producing wells and reservoirs. GIS means geographic information systems for handling location-based data. The program must collect data on four things: where marginal wells and reservoirs are and their status, their production capacity, locations of low‑pressure gathering facilities and pipelines, and how much natural gas is vented or flared. The Secretary must estimate remaining producible reserves at different pipeline pressures and recommend ways to keep producing them. The Secretary may award a grant to a group of States with many marginal wells for an annual study. If that group has no GIS capability, it must hire a college or university that does. The group must work with each State’s geologist. The Secretary may turn the data into maps and materials to share with States to help conserve natural gas reserves.