Schlumberger is acquiring about 375 acres of land near De Beque that will serve as a major hub for the world’s largest oil-field-services company.
After searching for a site in the area for more than a year, the company recently put the parcel under contract, said Stephen Harris, a spokesman for Schlumberger, which has its North American headquarters in Houston.
“We will begin construction later this year on a new facility to serve the Piceance Basin,” Harris wrote in an e-mail to The Denver Post. “The De Beque facility will serve as a significant base for our North America operations.”
He wouldn’t disclose financial terms of the deal, which has yet to close.
The land sits on the south side of Interstate 70 near the De Beque exit, about 200 miles west of Denver.
“It puts them in a very strategic location because it’s closer to most of the energy activity,” said Kathy Hall, the Western Slope representative of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association.
Schlumberger recently bought technology from defense contractor Raytheon that uses microwaves to get oil from oil shale. Harris said the technology still requires significant research and development.
“While the technology we acquired from Raytheon is applicable to the recovery of oil shales and heavy oil, it is a long way from being ready for field use,” Harris said.
Several firms are researching oil-shale technology on the Western Slope. Shell Exploration and Production has been researching oil shale in the area since 1981 and has been developing a process to use electric heat to extract oil from shale.
Like Shell, Chevron and EGL Resources also have received permission from the Bureau of Land Management to conduct oil-shale tests on federal land in Colorado.
Schlumberger is acquiring the land from De Beque resident Tom Latham and his family. Latham said his family has owned the land, zoned for agricultural use, for about 50 years. He said the deal probably won’t close until the company gets county and town approval for its plans.
De Beque Mayor Don Cramer said Schlumberger plans to use only a portion of the parcel for oil-field operations and purchased the rest for development speculation.
Harris had “no further details at this time.”
Andy Vuong: 303-954-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com
Who’s looking for oil shale?
Schlumberger recently acquired technology to extract oil from shale, joining other energy companies doing such research in Colorado:
Shell: Its Mahogany Research Project is conducting field tests in the Piceance Basin. There are 35 workers, but the project has employed about 200 during construction phases.
Chevron: Has a 160-acre research, development and demonstration lease in the Piceance Basin.
EGL Resources: With a 160-acre RD&D lease in the Piceance Basin, the company is in an 18-month research-and- analysis phase and hasn’t conducted any field tests. The project’s plan calls for about five years of field tests before EGL begins its commercial-design phase.
Exxon Mobil: Last April, regulators and industry officials said the oil company could begin new oil-shale research at its Colony Project near Parachute, nearly 26 years after Exxon shut down the operation.
