From Deseret News archives:
Oil companies tell state there's enough water to develop oil shale
Laura Nelson, Red Leaf Resources Inc.'s vice president of energy and environmental development, and Gary Aho, Oil Shale Exploration Co.'s vice president of operations, told the Utah Board of Water Resources in a meeting at the State Capitol that Utah has sufficient water for developing Utah's portion of oil in the Green River formation.
The Green River formation spans Utah, Colorado and Wyoming, and is estimated to hold 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil locked in shale, about 70 percent of it on federal Bureau of Land Management property.
With a moratorium now expired on leasing public lands to oil companies for shale projects, a big lingering question is whether Utah's desert environment has enough water to support the people and processes it will take to tap the shale. The oil shale would need further refining, possibly in Utah, to become usable crude.
"Our goal is to minimize water usage," Aho told the board members.
Both companies claim that, because of technological advances, they will need far less than the five to seven barrels of water that in years past has been needed to produce a barrel of crude oil. Now, the companies estimate that they will need one to three barrels of water per barrel of oil.
Nelson told the board that the question is no longer if commercial-scale development of shale will happen.
"I think the question is: When is this going to happen?" said Nelson, who until last year was Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s energy adviser.
Utah-based Red Leaf uses a shale-production technology, which the company calls EcoShale, and aims to produce "low-emission 'green' diesel fuels from oil shale," according to the company's Web site. Huntsman is working with Red Leaf in that endeavor, the company said.
Nelson said her company is "really very, very close" to making the "leap" from research and development to at least a small commercial operation. She estimated it would take two years to establish a small-scale production and five years to have a large-scale operation that would produce 30,000 barrels of oil per day.
Recent comments
Its funny about all of the enviros fear mongering to raise funds for...
go Utes! | Oct. 6, 2008 at 10:04 a.m.
EcoShale sounds like a potential over the old technologies that burn...
J Dog | Oct. 6, 2008 at 9:11 a.m.
Mather -- nice try. I've been a member for Sierra and NRDC for years....
Lynn | Oct. 5, 2008 at 11:45 a.m.
- Tuesday on TV 12:13 a.m.
- 'Dancing' will fill out finale 12:13 a.m.
- I'll take doc's advice on mammogram 12:12 a.m.
- Editorial: Winning fans' hearts 12:11 a.m.
- Afterthoughts 12:11 a.m.
- Letters: Barzee case like Jeffs' 12:11 a.m.
- Letters: Trump card for believers 12:11 a.m.
- Letters: Can't erase genetics 12:11 a.m.
- Letters: Rushing to judge Palin 12:11 a.m.
- Letters: MLS not BCS 12:11 a.m.
- Real Champions
- Bronco, Kyle rubber match
- Protests against Phoenix LDS temple
- BYU's Lamb, Jorgensen reprimanded
- Plenty on line for rivalry game
- Time for big matchups in WAC, MWC
- RSL wins MLS Cup on penalty kicks
- BCS at-large bids up for grabs
- Hall, Johnson matchup key
- Fans greet returning Real Salt Lake
- Glenn Beck to enter politics?
213 - RSL wins MLS Cup on penalty kicks
195 - Palin plans tour stop in Utah
178 - Palin's book shows she's unqualified
133 - BYU records with win
132 - Bronco, Kyle rubber match
131 - Protests against Phoenix LDS temple
109 - Officer cleared in Cardall Taser case
103 - BYU cuts Women's Research Inst.
103 - Jazz finally win in San Antonio
99
Associated Press Personal Finance Writer Candice Choi offers gift-giving...
Jared Quayle is a stud. He plays like a beast every time he touches the...
No Phx is not a majority LDS city Mesa is. As far as Tom's comment about...
Lest my Utah friends think I was just going to bang on my own, I think UteFan...
You can read the official declaration online via a photo of the original....
"McFeatters states that what Palin is doing, and doing brilliantly, is being...
don't mean to pick on you but fans from both sides make it easy to despise...
Nick Paulos is a great shooter, and Connor Brady's decent. But Provo and Kyle...
Explain this to me. He claims a utah fan ran on the field and threw a CUP of...
The International Center for Religion and Diplomacy mentioned in this article...
BYU doesn't have to make the U sound anti-Mormon, it's a fact; there is a...

