Shell is going to the wall for oil

Piceance Creek – In an arid, sage-dotted valley here, Shell Exploration & Production Co. has begun work on what could be the final technological challenge to large-scale production of oil from shale.

Shell already has figured out how to melt kerogen – the oil-like substance – from underground shale deposits with electric heaters to produce oil from one of the world’s largest potential petroleum sources.

Oil-shale deposits in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming have technically recoverable reserves of 500 billion to 1.1 trillion barrels of oil, according to a study last year by the Rand Corp. for the Department of Energy.

The midpoint of the Rand estimate – 800 billion barrels – is three times the size of Saudi Arabia’s reserves and enough to meet 25 percent of current U.S. oil demand for 400 years.

Denver Post