Washington – Shell, Chevron and Exxon Mobil are among the companies that have asked for 19 federal leases to research turning oil shale into oil in Colorado and neighboring states, the Bureau of Land Management said Tuesday.
Of the 19 requests, 10 are for parcels on Colorado’s Western Slope, eight are for Utah sites and one is for a Wyoming site.
Other companies that have applied for research leases in Colorado are EGL Resources Inc., Independent Energy Partners, Kennecott Exploration Co., Natural Soda Inc. and Phoenix Wyoming Inc.
The 160-acre research tracts on federal lands could be converted to 5,100-acre production leases if companies prove they can turn rock into fuel.
“We recognize the importance of making public lands available to promote all forms of energy, including oil shale, but in a way that provides for prudent site selection and sound environmental management,” BLM Assistant Director Tom Lonnie said.
A BLM team will start in late October to evaluate each proposal on its potential to advance shale technology, economics and environmental effects, then make recommendations about awarding leases.
Geologists say up to 1 trillion barrels of oil lie bound in the 1,000-foot-thick shale formations of western Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.
That’s as much as the rest of the world’s proven oil reserves combined.
Currently, Shell is working on private land to perfect a process in which oil is cooked out of the rock while it is still in the ground.
Staff writer Mike Soraghan can be reached at 202-662-8730 or msoraghan@denverpost.com.
