[djmassk]

GAO: Recoverable Oil in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming 'About Equal to Entire World’s Proven Oil Reserves'

VIDEO AT LINK.


GAO: Recoverable Oil in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming 'About Equal to Entire World’s Proven Oil Reserves'

By Terence P. Jeffrey
May 11, 2012
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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.
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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. WELL FUCK ME, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE US.


http://cnsnews.com/news/article/gao-...d-s-proven-oil

[AnypecekceS]

Interesting, but the trick is to separate the oil from the rock. It's even more difficult than the Canadian oil sands.

[djmassk]

Interesting, but the trick is to separate the oil from the rock. It's even more difficult than the Canadian oil sands.

John, but if the head negro in charge were to just say, "We're seriously considering allowing drilling in these areas and north Dakota to begin supplying our own needs as a nation", oil prices would be down to 20 dollars a barrel within an hour, and this usurper would be re-elected.

[Mjypksun]

how is shale oil extracted? is it fracking? I had hear Wyoming had more oil than the big Saudi field. To me it seems forcing oil up or out is one way but I wonder if there are any more passive methods like draining or some such. Instead of pushing it to some location, what about draining it to some location, then pumping it.

[Unonounaple]

Meanwhile, natural gas is $2.30/mmbtu. So we should obviously go after the expensive/environmentally damaging shale deposits first. There is a huge GLUT of energy on the markets and they are manipulating the prices to extract the wealth.

[AALee]

how is shale oil extracted? is it fracking? I had hear Wyoming had more oil than the big Saudi field. To me it seems forcing oil up or out is one way but I wonder if there are any more passive methods like draining or some such. Instead of pushing it to some location, what about draining it to some location, then pumping it.

it's heated up. some of the geologist reports at

http://www.theoildrum.com/

describe humongous (earth size) heaters put in the ground to separate an oil-like fluid that can be pumped out.

but, it takes more energy to extract it than you get from the oil. AKA Negative Return on Energy.

the "Reason to do it" is - you get a liquid fuel that we can run our cars on.


The energy to do the process can come from natural gas, nuclear, or coal - or even (theoretically) solar or wind.