Hatch urges use of Utah's tar sands and oil shale

With gas prices surging higher and higher in the United States, Sen. Orrin Hatch believes some of the nation's energy cost dilemmas may be alleviated by Utah's resources.

Hatch, R-Utah, told the Deseret Morning News editorial board Monday that tar sand and oil shale resources in Utah could be used for oil production.

Utah gets 25 percent of its oil from Canada, he said, and Canada is making its oil from tar sands at about $20 a barrel or less.

In July, Hatch authored the Oil Shale and Tar Sands Development Act, SB1111. The act promotes development of hydrocarbon in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming.

"We have more recoverable oil in Utah and Colorado than in the Middle East," Hatch said in a July 26 press release. "Yet Utah imports nearly one-fourth of its oil from Canada tar sands, even though we have a larger tar sands resource in the state that until now has remained undeveloped."

Hatch said Utah's energy future also looks bright because of an estimated 1.5 trillion to 3 trillion barrels of oil that is recoverable in Utah.

"I think it's closer to 3 trillion," he said.

Others think Utah's oil resources are less lucrative. The Sierra Club issued a report, "America's Great Outdoors," in June that criticized the use of 6 million acres of redrock wilderness for oil and gas exploration. Marc Heileson, Sierra regional representative, told the Deseret Morning News in June that the lands should be protected for future generations.

"If they found all the oil they thought they would in Utah, it would only be three weeks of our national demand," he said. "Yet these are treasures that people come from all over the world to see."

Hatch's Oil Shale and Tar Sands Development bill is part of a comprehensive energy bill that includes other provisions he authored.

One provision, Geothermal and Renewable Resources, SB1156, would promote geothermal energy, a domestic energy source that according to a press release from Hatch's office could provide energy for more than 22 million homes if fully developed.

"Utah sits on some of the biggest and most important geothermal reservoirs in the country," Hatch said.

The energy legislation was agreed on by a Senate-House negotiating team in July, and now must be agreed to by the House and Senate.

Hatch also told the Deseret Morning News Monday that the Legacy Parkway, a highway that would give motorists an alternative to from I-15 between Davis and Salt Lake counties, is an important part of Utah's future. He said that the 11-mile stretch of highway would alleviate traffic and congestion in Salt Lake City.

"If you have an accident on those roads, they are backed up for hours," Hatch said.