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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />~ <br />o <br />~ Growth of the Shale Industry After 1975 <br />While the water requirements for the expansion of the <br />industry after 1975 are not considered in this report, ii <br />should ~ be implied that qrowth will stop at this point. <br />There are ample reserves of oil shale for several <br />times the production rate of 1,250,000 barrels per day. In <br />a study for the Corps of Engineers (17) Ford, Bacon & Davis <br />cite a figure of 5,950,000 barrels per day as a possible <br />production rate based on available reserves in Colorado <br />alone. This level could be maintained for a minimum of <br />40 years. Smaller rates of production would, of course, <br />extend the life of the deposit. <br />There seems no likelihood that the demand for shale <br />oil, once established, will diminish. Students of our <br />economy are unanimous in the belief that United States <br />energy needs, including liquid fuels, will continue to <br />grow for the foreseeable future. Atomic energy is not a <br />competitor for most uses of petroleum. It seems reasonable <br />to expect that shale oil production will continue to in- <br />crease as domestic petroleum production declines until some <br />economic or physical limitation is reached. Assuming the <br />availability of an adequate water supply we foresee nothing <br />to prevent shale oil production reaching several million <br />barrels per day. <br /> <br />-15- <br />