Natural Gas Research Under Attach by Bush

The Department of Energy program which funded a robotic pipeline inspection tool could be shut down if the Bush administration has its way. The development of the Explorer II pipeline instrument was funded by the Strategic Center for Natural Gas and oil, run out of the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Morgantown, WV The Strategic Center is spending $75 million in the current 2008 fiscal year on natural gas research. But the Bush administration wants to zero it out in fiscal year 2009. At hearings before the Senate Energy Committee in early February, Energy secretary Samuel Bodman said the fiscal 2009 budget "continues to shift resources away from oil and gas research and development programs, which have sufficient market incentives for private industry support, to other energy priorities. Federal staff, paid from the program direction account, will work toward an orderly termination of the program in FY 2009."

But members of Congress are unlikely to accept the program's termination. Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, said at that hearing, "This administration has a real blind spot when it comes to developing new domestic natural gas resources. The gas that is most available to the consumers who need it is located onshore, and the key players in developing it are independent oil and gas producers. They aren't big enough to have R&D departments that undertake the research needed to keep our natural gas supplies robust.

"If DOE walks away from the R&D needed to keep natural gas flowing in an economic and environmentally responsible manner, then consumers will pay through higher prices and working families will pay through loss of manufacturing jobs that depend on natural gas. This is another short-sighted decision that I hope the Congress reverses," Bingaman said.