R&D shale oil extraction leases granted

DENVER – The Interior Department granted leases Friday for shale oil extraction experiments, a step allowing companies to determine how to tap into an estimated 100-year supply of oil locked in rock formations under Colorado, Utah, and southwest Wyoming.

The leases, the first granted in 30 years, were issued two decades after companies abandoned large-scale commercial efforts in western Colorado because coaxing oil out of rock was laborious and expensive.

The Interior Department issued 10-year leases for Shell Frontier Oil & Gas Co., Chevron USA and EGL Resources Inc. for 160-acre parcels for research and development projects in northwest Colorado.

“These oil shale (research, development, and demonstration) leases will help us determine how industry might develop this tremendous resource effectively and economically,” said C. Stephen Allred, assistant secretary of the interior for land and minerals management.

AP