U.S. govt to propose rules to develop oil shale

Reuters ^ | Jul 21, 2008 10:21pm BST | Ayesha Rascoe

[thackney]

The U.S. Interior Department said on Monday it will propose regulations on Tuesday to establish a commercial oil shale program that could result in up to 800 million barrels of recoverable oil on public lands in western United States.

The White House and many Republicans have called for a ban on oil shale drilling to be lifted to help alleviate record high oil prices.

Congress temporarily blocked oil shale development in the Midwest due to concerns from environmentalists that oil shale production consumes large amounts of water and power, both of which are scarce in the West.

[quintr]

At the rate of 20 million barrels of consumption per day in the US, that appears to be 100,000 days.

Or, to look at it another way, that would be 273 years.

And the Democrats object because why?

[quintr]

Sorry for the clumsiness of that last sentence.

Should read “beginning to proceed to commence” will scare th willies...

I get a thrill with just the thought of that much oil available to us right here at home. It seems moronic to us that the Democracts in congress — the 9%ers — would possibly be opposed to doing anything so beneficial for the well-being of the United States.

But then, I just answered my own question

[savedbygrace]

This article:

http://www.dailyreckoning.com/rpt/OilShale.html

says the total oil in shale for the entire U. S. is at least 1.5 trillion barrels.

[quintr]

the 9%ers are members of the 110th congress — the first group of congressionals ever to hit single digit approval ratings

Shame on them! And shame on us if we re-elect them!

[thackney]

The total oil in place for oil shale in the US is estimated to be over 2 trillion.

The estimated recoverable oil from the Green River formation is 800 billion barrels.

The reporter made a typo with billion versus million.

Links for the above already posted in the thread.

Cheers

[Ancesthntr]

But it isn’t 40 days of us demand, it is 40,000. 109 1/2 years - without any oil from any other source, including domestic drilling. More realistically, 5 million bbls/day for 200,000 days - over 400 years worth.

[gogeo]

Yes, the only energy of which they approve is the kind you can’t produce now...

[o_zarkman44]

Yes, the only energy of which they approve is the kind you can’t -—produce now...

Can’t make a profit on.....There, fixed it.

[An_Enigma_Hehe]

BTTT Ping

[An_Enigma_Hehe]

Your solution is PERFECT! Get the people salivating for a few of the bucks, just like they get in Alaska. I think in AK it’s called the “permanent fund.” It varies from year to year, but back in the early 90’s, my dad used to get $2,000 - 5,000 each year.

BTW, it is Sooooo technologically impossible to retrieve and use oil shale, that Estonia, that enclave of engineers and rocket scientists, began using oil shale in the 1930’s. They still use it, as does China and Brazil.

[Jabba the Nutt]

Thank you. But is there one politician in the Mountain States (New Mexico to North Dakota) who see the potential of this? Or are they so obsessed with getting the money for themselves to re-elect themselves for ever?

It's easy for non-smokers to vote for tax increases on tobacco. It's easy for people making $50K a year to support taxes on people making $100K a year.

Suddenly, when it's money in your own pocket, then suddenly its worth thinking about. It's too late for this year, but a group could write an initiative for the ballot in Colorado. You'd see Sen. Salazar start break-dancing to support it.