ENERGY DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES NATIONAL PETROLEUM COUNCIL REPORT TO UNLOCK AMERICA’S VAST ENERGY RESOURCES
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy today announced the release of the National Petroleum Council's (NPC) American Resources for a Secure Future: A National Cooperative Subsurface Assessment Program report, which provides recommendations to strengthen America's understanding of its vast subsurface resources and support expanded domestic energy and mineral development.
Requested by DOE, the report examines opportunities to improve how the United States assesses, characterizes, and manages its subsurface resources—including oil and natural gas, geothermal energy, critical minerals, coal, geologic hydrogen, and underground storage—through stronger public-private coordination, modern data systems, advanced technologies, and workforce development.
The report advances President Trump’s commitment to restore American energy dominance by reducing unnecessary barriers to resource development and to deliver affordable, reliable, and secure energy for the American people.
“The United States possesses extraordinary subsurface resources that are fundamental to our nation’s energy security, economic prosperity, and industrial competitiveness,” said DOE Under Secretary of Energy Kyle Haustveit. “The National Petroleum Council’s report provides an important framework for strengthening our understanding of the subsurface and advancing the technologies needed to unlock its full potential. These recommendations will help DOE advance President Trump’s agenda to unleash American energy, strengthen domestic supply chains, and secure our nation’s energy future.”
The report identifies five key areas to strengthen America’s ability to assess and develop its subsurface resources:
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Strengthen National Coordination. The report recommends establishing a more coordinated national approach to subsurface resource assessments through stronger collaboration among federal and state agencies, Tribal governments, academia, and industry, supported by a long-term planning process to identify national priorities.
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Modernize Data. It emphasizes expanding federal-state data acquisition efforts, improving public access to geological information through a national data portal, preserving valuable legacy data, and evaluating opportunities to responsibly improve access to industry data that can strengthen future resource assessments.
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Deploy Advanced Technology. The report highlights the role of emerging technologies—including advanced sensing, three-dimensional subsurface modeling, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and next-generation drilling and recovery technologies—in improving resource characterization and accelerating innovation.
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Accelerate Integrated Assessments. It encourages accelerating holistic, multi-resource assessments, expanding evaluation of emerging resources, and improving coordination among the federal agencies responsible for evaluating the nation's subsurface resources.
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Strengthen America’s Energy Workforce. The report also recommends strengthening partnerships among federal agencies, universities, state geological surveys, national laboratories, and industry to prepare the next generation of geoscientists, engineers, and data professionals.
The report also includes resource-specific recommendations to strengthen assessments of oil and natural gas, geothermal energy, critical and essential minerals, coal, geologic hydrogen, dynamic subsurface storage, and permanent subsurface storage. These recommendations are intended to improve resource characterization, advance technology development, reduce uncertainty, and support responsible domestic resource development across each sector.
About the NPC
The NPC is a federally chartered advisory committee established to provide advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Energy on matters relating to oil, natural gas, energy, and associated technologies. In December 2025, DOE requested the NPC examine opportunities to strengthen the nation's approach to subsurface resource assessments and identify best practices that could support future federal and state efforts. The resulting report was developed by a diverse group of experts representing industry, state geological surveys, academia, national laboratories, Tribal interests, and other stakeholders, and was delivered to DOE to help inform future policy discussions and program priorities.
Read the full report here.
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