7A--Structural Geology Software Licensing

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), an agency under the Department of the Interior, issued this Special Notice on April 27, 2026, announcing its intent to award a purchase order to Petroleum Experts LLC for a MOVE suite geologic software license on a sole-source basis. The USGS determined that Petroleum Experts LLC is the only source capable of providing the required structural geology software, as it is the exclusive publisher with no authorized resellers available. This acquisition will be made under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 12 for commercial products and services. The notice satisfies the requirements of FAR Subpart 5.101(a) regarding sole-source justifications. Although this is not a competitive solicitation, the USGS will consider quotations from any responsible parties submitted by the closing date.

The acquisition supports the USGS's critical mineral research initiatives, particularly the EarthMRI Republic Survey in northeastern Washington State, which requires advanced structural geology modeling capabilities for determining critical mineral potential. Interested parties must submit responses electronically to yangzhideng@usgs.gov with a deadline of May 11, 2026 at 5:00 PM PST; hardcopy or web portal submissions will not be accepted. The MOVE software must perform complex geological modeling functions including data integration, forward and reverse cross-section modeling, kinematic restoration and validation, and thermal model integration, with capabilities to assign varying densities to different rock types and export point clouds for each modeling step. The USGS justified the sole-source award by noting that existing project data and models are already integrated within the current MOVE software and would become inaccessible without this license upgrade. The contract period extends one year from award with two optional years through December 31, 2029, with the NAICS code 513210 (Software Publisher) and PSC code 7A21 (IT and Telecom - Business Application Software).