Bush administration taking early step toward taking oil from vast Western shale deposits

[DogPoundPup]

Source: International Herald Tribune

The Bush administration wants to start a process before leaving office for developing oil shale, rocky deposits in the western United States that eventually could yield 800 billion barrels of oil, according to government estimates.

The Interior Department is scheduled to unveil proposed regulations Tuesday for a program to sell oil shale leases on federal lands, similar to the leases sold now for oil and natural gas both on and offshore.

The shale is concentrated in the Green River Basin of Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. Developing it has become a hot topic of debate between Democrats and Republicans in response to voter anger over $4-a-gallon (€1.05 a liter) gasoline.

<snip>
Oil shale may be the largest untapped source of domestic oil, dwarfing the quantity of oil available offshore and on federal lands currently off-limits. However, it is very expensive to extract. A government program to subsidize its development in the 1980s was shut down when cost figures came in at several times the then-market price for oil.

Unlike traditional sources of oil, oil shale requires energy to bake the rock and pump the molten oil to the surface. There also are big environmental worries about the possible effect on the region's water, wildlife and public lands.



Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/22/america/NA-GEN-US-Oil-Shale.php

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OIL, OIL, OIL...to hell with clean, fresh water, the environment and least of all wildlife. SOB's, every damn one of the oil mongers!

[Botany]

1. As of now you have to put in more energy than you get out

or it was that way in 1985 :rofl:

but you also ruin the land and water too.

[DogPoundPup]

4. Exactly! High oil prices = oil cos. don't have to use any of THEIR PROFIT$ to

extract this oil. This scheme they've had in the making since they shut down refineries to drive up the price! It may not be illegal but it sure as hell is unethical and immoral.

[daleo]

17. Yeah, but they can make up for that by producing in volume

The laws of physics be damned.

[Botany]

22. If it takes more calories of energy than calories of energy produced ....

.... it will not help our energy problems.

The only way for it to make energy is on a massive scale of ecological destruction .....
level the mountains and divert rivers .... all this to produce a fuel that makes
greenhouse gases.

[daleo]

23. I was being facetious

Thus the comment about repealing the laws of physics. As far as my reading goes, oil shales are an oil company pipe dream.

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. The Green River Basin

They would have to level the mountains.

[DogPoundPup]

3. Beautiful pics of the Green River Basin ... thank you! n/t

[liberal N proud]

7. More Beauty for the bu$h regime to destroy

[Lorien]

20. And they have no compunctions about doing that, either

just look at the disaster they've made of West Virginia. How anyone can call themselves a "Christian" while destroying the most beautiful places on earth is beyond me. But he who controls energy controls the world, so clean renewables are not part of their plans. :grr:

[GOPBasher]

5. Well who needs fresh water?

Can't we just drink our oil? :shrug:

[anitar1]

6. This is just another excuse for him to trash and destroy. n/t

[JerseygirlCT]

8. There's no cost effective way to do this yet, either, is there?

Nonsense.

All misdirection.

The problem isn't about oil, it's about our refusal to recognize we need to find viable and sustainable alternatives to oil.

[Barrett808]

9. None. It's a boondoggle. n/t

[JerseygirlCT]

10. That's what I thought.

So stupid.

[Barrett808]

13. Here are some details on the viability of oil shale:

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, although shale oils represent a huge potential resource they have a history of “always a bridesmaid and never a bride” because as prices for oil increase the prices for extracting shale oil have increased as well. This history represents the very real problems of generating a useful product from the resource. The main problems include the distance of the shale from both the water and labor needed to extract it, the large environmental impact compared to conventional oil and the relatively low EROI . In addition, with both shale and tar sands there is some disagreement whether the in situ should be charged as an energy opportunity cost, (in the same sense that bagasse could be in sugar cane ethanol). Ultimately, the question is, if conventional oil becomes very scarce whether a resource such as shale oil will be developed regardless of cost.

Unconventional Oil: Tar Sands and Shale Oil - EROI on the Web, Part 3 of 6
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3839

[DFW]

11. MAJOR misprint if the article said that

$4 a gallon is only 67 Euro cents, not €1.05.

I'm in the USA for a few weeks, and I noticed here in southern California (BH to
be specific) $5.19 for the best category. Definitely the first time I have seen
over $5 for any kind of gas in North America.

[Maestro]

12. You ought to see what they are doing in Texas.

Many people are against this but it keeps getting ram-rodded down people's throats.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnett_Shale

The energy companies are really pushing this as some sort of economic savior and the Tommy Lee Jones is on TV here in Texas promoting it. The drilling rigs are popping up everywhere around me. They are unsightly and loud!

This is the major energy company that is pushing it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_Energy

[Hawkeye-X]

14. Al Gore needs to call Tommy Lee Jones and whup him in the ass.

TLJ has always had my respect as a ex-roommate of Al's, but if he's pushing for oil companies, he's lost me.

And I just saw Batman Forever yesterday.

Hawkeye-X

[Maestro]

15. I was sort of surprised to see that he was promoting it

but other than being Al Gore's roommate I really don't know about his politics.

[webDude]

16. There 's 3 times more energy in cow manure than oil shale...

Source: radio show on KPFT, Houston, Texas. The guy was a CPA that hosts a Thursday show at 10 AM. He cited some more examples, all showing that oil shale is a seriously lacking promise.

[Nevernose]

18. People come from all over the world to see this area

Truly "god's country." Take a look at the pics at the wikipedia site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_River_(Utah)

There's already quite a bit of natural gas being mined there. I guess they need a few strip mines to liven things up.

[enuegii]

19. One thing that gets glossed over

when people talk about "shale oil" is that it isn't, strictly speaking, the same thing as crude oil. It contains kerogens, which are organic materials also contained in crude oil, but, and this may be over-simplifying a bit, the organic material in shale oil is not "done" yet.
In other words, the material hasn't been subjected to the necessary pressure and temperatures long enough to produce the entire range of hydrocarbon chains present in crude oil, and especially the shorter hydrocarbon chains needed to produce gasoline.
At least that's my impression, but I'm not an expert in the field, so if anyone can explain it better, I'd be happy to hear about it.

[Robb]

21. You explained it as well as it's ever been explained to me

The additional refining necessary gets tacked on to the overall high cost of getting crude out of shale.

Again, never been worth it. But at $200/barrel, it starts to make economic sense. Aside from the fact that the entire chain also requires energy to heat the ground and transport the product, and energy is now also more expensive, etc. etc.

It's sort of like that old cartoon where the dumb character puts his index finger from his right hand into the fist of his left, sticking out the top, then tries to grab it with his right hand. It keeps slipping away, dad-gunnit.

Welcome to DU! :hi: