Posted on 05/11/2012 4:09:24 PM PDT by jazusamo
Video at link
Rock Springs, Wyo. (BLM Photo)
(CNSNews.com) - The Green River Formation, a largely vacant area of mostly federal land that covers the territory where Colorado, Utah and Wyoming come together, contains about as much recoverable oil as all the rest the world’s proven reserves combined, an auditor from the Government Accountability Office told Congress on Thursday.
The GAO testimony stressed that the federal government was in “a unique position to influence the development of oil shale” because the Green River deposits were mostly beneath federal land.
It also noted that developing the oil would pose “socioeconomic challenges,” which included bringing “a sizable influx of workers who along with their families put additional stress on local infrastructure” and “making planning for growth difficult for local governments.”
“The Green River Formation--an assemblage of over 1,000 feet of sedimentary rocks that lie beneath parts of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming--contains the world's largest deposits of oil shale,”Anu K. Mittal, the GAO’s director of natural resources and environment said in written testimony submitted to the House Science Subcommittee on Energy and Environment.
“USGS estimates that the Green River Formation contains about 3 trillion barrels of oil, and about half of this may be recoverable, depending on available technology and economic conditions,” Mittal testified.
“The Rand Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, estimates that 30 to 60 percent of the oil shale in the Green River Formation can be recovered,” Mittal told the subcommittee. “At the midpoint of this estimate, almost half of the 3 trillion barrels of oil would be recoverable. This is an amount about equal to the entire world's proven oil reserves.”
In her oral statement before the subcommittee, Mittal said that developing the shale oil would create wealth and jobs for the country, but also challenges for government.
“Being able to tap this vast amount of oil locked within this formation will go a long way to help to meet our future demands for oil. The U.S. Geological Survey, as you noted, estimates that the formation contains about 3 trillion barrels of oil of which half may be recoverable,” she said.
“As you can imagine having the technology to develop this vast energy resource will lead to a number of important socioeconomic benefits including the creation of jobs, increases in wealth and increases in tax and royalty payments for federal and state governments,” she said.
“While large-scale oil-shale development offers socioeconomic opportunities it also poses certain socioeconomic challenges that also should not be overlooked,” she testified. “Oil shale development like other extractive industries can bring a sizable influx of workers who along with their families put additional stressed on local infrastructure. Development from expansion of extractive industries has historically followed a boom-and-bust cycle making planning for growth difficult for local governments.”
In her written testimony , Mittal noted that three-fourths of the Green River shale oil is under federal land.
“The federal government is in a unique position to influence the development of oil shale because nearly three-quarters of the oil shale within the Green River Formation lies beneath federal lands managed by the Department of the Interior’s (Interior) Bureau of Land Management (BLM),” she testified.
Potomac-speak for: "why should the local guys get all the payolla?"
——couple of problems with the “shale” oil-—there isn’t much of it per ton of material and it is VERY well dispersed in the rock also-—
With so many of his commies already in-place in the criminal, criminal EPA, Commerce, DOT and other corrupt Federal/State Agencies, permits for Federal Land exploration/drilling and new refineries will be delayed/denied for the next 20-50yrs.
If he gets another 4yrs, America - as we know it - is gone.
I thought proven reserves had peaked. Who knew?
The article uses the terms “oil shale” and “shale oil” interchangeably. They are to different things. The Green River Formation contains oil shale that is not oil, but a substance called kerogen that can be converted to oil, but using current technolgy is very expensive and energy input intensive. Articles that imply that oil shale is equivalent to the shale oil that is being found in North Dakota are misleading.
—thanks—good to see somebody else on one of these threads who knows what he is talking about-—( I was in on many an “oil shale” feasibility study thirty years ago during the last go-around)
Thats exactly WHY the Keystone pipeline was killed..
The pipeline would go right by the oil sands and shale..
Can’t the rubes “Jonesing” for all that oil...
Only would have been a matter of time before they put 2x2 together..
If Romney didnt want to take a “dive” in this election..
He would shout this from the housetops..
Unfortunately like Juan McLame he wants to take a dive..
And will act like this DIDN’T HAPPEN...
We’ll never get any of this oil as long as O’failure is in the White House.
Thanks for your post, I was unaware of that.
The simple way to get it out is heat, Fracking and time. $35 per barrel The Denver Post said. That is why the big deal is manufactured on fracking. Salizar never saw any oil he did not like.
“—thanks—good to see somebody else on one of these threads who knows what he is talking about-—( I was in on many an “oil shale” feasibility study thirty years ago during the last go-around)”
Yes, it makes me crazy sometimes and the they throw the Canadian “oil sands” into the mix an it becomes vey confusing to the layman. I wish they would just call it what it is, kerogen. The typical journalist doesn’t have the intelligence to understand the difference if it is explained to them.
“—thanks—good to see somebody else on one of these threads who knows what he is talking about-—( I was in on many an “oil shale” feasibility study thirty years ago during the last go-around)”
Yes, it makes me crazy sometimes and the they throw the Canadian “oil sands” into the mix an it becomes vey confusing to the layman. I wish they would just call it what it is, kerogen. The typical journalist doesn’t have the intelligence to understand the difference if it is explained to them.
“—thanks—good to see somebody else on one of these threads who knows what he is talking about-—( I was in on many an “oil shale” feasibility study thirty years ago during the last go-around)”
Yes, it makes me crazy sometimes and the they throw the Canadian “oil sands” into the mix an it becomes vey confusing to the layman. I wish they would just call it what it is, kerogen. The typical journalist doesn’t have the intelligence to understand the difference if it is explained to them.
They don’t want any Ellis Wyatts popping up just when they’ve got most major American corporations co-opted as arms of government.
hmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
Sorry for the triple post. My sorry Internet connection got me again.:-(
Why not erect a thousand ugly windmills like they did in West Texas?
And to think that these very windmills may be the cause of climate change because of the effect that they have on nighttime temperatures caused by air turbulence at ground level.
I believe they have some water table issues that complicate things. The water and shale oil are at the same depths.
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