Certainly oil production is part of the state's booming economy, said Gayle McKeachnie, the governor's rural affairs adviser. "If it goes down, it will affect state revenue, local tax valuation and all of that."

A group of Uinta Basin oil producers will meet with Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. next month to "explain their dilemma," McKeachnie said. "We're trying to find out where the truth is and what might be done," he said.

Though the decision to increase refining capacity lies with private industry, McKeachnie said that if it affects the price of gasoline, the state "might do something to encourage an expansion or building." Regulation, taxes or economic development incentives could be considered, he said. No one has yet asked for any of those things.

What Jurrius and others want is state support of federal legislation that could speed up refinery construction on Ute land.

Otherwise, this newly energized economy of eastern Utah could falter, he and others say.

State Sen. Beverly Evans, who has represented Uinta Basin residents for 20 years, is worried about members of her community.

"They are losing money," she said. "Because they just don't have anywhere to take their product, they aren't producing nearly as much as they could."

Outside competition

Some companies are actually moving out and shutting down wells.

Today, more than 400,000 barrels of Newfield Exploration oil is in storage. The company decided not to sell for the low price Salt Lake refineries are offering. The Houston-based company announced last week that it closed 165 wells.

Pulling out two drilling rigs capable of sinking 600 wells over five years would amount to the loss of an estimated 900 million barrels of oil. Federal, state and local governments would be out some $93 million in taxes and royalties, according to Jurrius' estimates.

"It's going to shut off the oil production engine if we aren't careful," Valentine said.

State officials have discussed tar sands and oil shale. "The trouble is we don't have the refinery capacity to produce what we have now," he said. "I think it's going to be a major impediment to future production."

Although Utah's refiners and their representatives did not respond to inquiries for this story, according to a document produced by Big West Oil Co., also known as Flying J, in North Salt Lake, the decision to buy or not buy black wax crude is an economic one.

It says there currently is a "surplus of black wax crude in the Uinta Basin because Utah refiners have other more economically attractive options."

What refineries opt for is bargain-priced Canadian crude oil, which started coming across the border about two years ago.