UW School of Energy Resources Requests Proposals for Mowry Project Phase 2

The University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources (SER) is seeking proposals from current UW faculty members to further investigate the Mowry Shale in the Powder River Basin as part of the research project’s Phase 2. The application deadline is June 15, and selected projects will be notified by July 1.

The invitation comes nearly a year after an initial request for proposals was released to study the potential of the tight, hydrocarbon-bearing formation. Last summer, SER selected seven Phase 1 projects to increase the understanding of the Mowry Shale, with the aim of improving production and increasing reserves. The seven existing projects address two areas of interest: projects that advance physics-based modeling and experimentation, or projects that support data-driven approaches to draw meaningful insights from large data sets.

To build upon this initial work, SER is again seeking new proposals in two areas of interest. The first is to recruit additional projects in disciplines not covered in the first round of funding. The second seeks to continue and expand the existing projects.

“In the first round of funding, we received wonderful proposals from faculty members in various engineering departments such as petroleum, mechanical and chemical, as well as proposals from geologists in the School of Energy Resources,” says Scott Quillinan, SER senior director of research. “These projects are composed of multidisciplinary teams and focused on increasing the understanding of the complex Mowry Shale. We’d like to expand that to see some proposals from other important areas of study such as petroleum systems modeling, in drilling and completion design, and facies characterizations, to supplement the current experiments.”

The second area of interest is directed at the existing projects and should build on the work completed in Phase 1. Phase 2 proposals are encouraged to collaborate and identify synergies between existing projects, and propose a clear plan for how the research can improve exploration and production within the Mowry Shale.

For area of interest 1, the opportunity will fund up to two years and will have a maximum budget of $100,000, while projects funded under area of interest 2 will last up to three years with a maximum budget of $250,000.

Interested UW faculty members are invited to submit proposals -- as well as any questions -- to Quillinan at scottyq@uwyo.edu with the subject line: “Mowry Shale Proposal 2.0.”

For more information on the request, download the full RFP here.