Competitive Aspects Of Oil Shale Development

Discusses possibility of large oil company monopolization of oil shale development in the Rocky Mountains.

Discusses possibility of large oil company monopolization of oil shale development in the Rocky Mountains.

This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. Rising oil prices and concerns over declining petroleum production worldwide revived U.S. interest in oil shale after a two-decade hiatus. In addition to technological challenges left unsolved from previous development efforts, environmental issues remained and new issues have emerged. Challenges to development also include competition with conventional petroleum production in the mid-continent region, and increasing petroleum imports from Canada. Contents of this report: Background; Oil Shale Resource Potential; Challenges to Development; Commercial Leasing Program; R&D Program; Programmatic Environ. Impact Statement; Mineral Leasing Act Amendments; Commercial Lease Sale and Royalty Rates. Illus.

Examines the problems and prospects for the commercialization of oil shale from surface retorting, and concludes that government support of such an effort is unlikely to result in a viable industry in this century, although oil shale is second only to coal as a U.S. fossil fuel reserve. Alternative technologies, such as modified in situ (in place) processes, are promising but data on them are not abundant enough to permit reliable estimates of commercial-scale costs; government decisions on their commercialization should await the completion of further technical tests and an independent definitive plant design. The study deals mostly with economic and institutional constraints. The cost of shale oil, estimated at about 50 percent above the current world oil price, is the principal barrier to commercialization of surface retorting. The most serious institutional problem is the availability of water in the semiarid shale regions of the United States.

In the early 1980s, industry and government took a hard look at the economics of extracting oil from vast deposits of shale that lie beneath the western United States. Oil prices subsided, and interest waned. With oil prices spiking and global demand showing no signs of abating, reexamining the economics of oil shale makes sense. In this report, the authors describe oil shale resources; suitability, cost, and performance of new technologies; and key policy issues that need to be addressed by government decisionmakers in the near future.

This report of the Interagency Task Force on Oil Shale examines the prospects for expanding shale oil production to meet the objectives of Project Independence. The study considers production potential; resource requirements such as human, money, and material resources; production constraints; and actions needed to accelerate development. The report also deals with economic factors in increased development of oil shale production; oil shale resource base and ownership; leasing requirements and policy; water demand, supply and quality; air quality analysis; impact on fish and wildlife; and the status of technology.