In his State of the Union Address in January 2012, President Obama laid out the so-called Blueprint for an America Built to Last. This Blueprint emphasized the Administration’s commitment to an “all-of-the-above approach” to energy independence aimed at developing every available source of American energy, including increased production of domestic oil and natural gas resources. The overarching goal of this Blueprint was to reduce the United States’ dependence on foreign oil. The United States has only two percent of the world’s oil reserves. By contrast, the Energy Information Administration estimates natural gas production in the United States to grow by more than eight trillion cubic feet by 2035. Accordingly, natural gas production will play an integral role in promoting energy independence. However, to fully realize this potential, the United States will need to optimize or develop the technology or processes to achieve it.

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