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_..~---~---_._~ .~ . timelable is tied 10 the successful comple- tion of several steps, The first slC'p. he said, ....ould be tn sink shafts into the oil.shale-bearing forma- tlons, That could begm next year, That would be follo....'e<J in mid-year 1979 with dC\'elopment of a sin$:h'-module un- derground oll-shale relorllng chamber, THE lJ:-;OERGROL"~n operation, u!'ing a process developed by OccIdental o'>"l'r the past few years at a lest Sill' near DeBeque, Colo_, is the key to the new plan to develop lhe tract. The process, eaUC:d the modified in-situ process, involves creatmg large cubidl's of fractured oil.shale rock underground. A fire is lort't'd through the rocks, cooking the oil out .....ith 9O(klegree heal. The Oil then is collected at the bollom of the t'hamber and pumped to tht' surface, Hill said the two factors that will deter- mine whether thl! process will be an eco-- nomic suct'ess are how close the frac- tured.rock l'hambers can be plaN'd together undt'rground and if ;~ per cent o! the oii in place can be recoH'red. If the process works as planned, HHI predicted, the companies could produce Oil for "several dollars le$.S than the going priee of Mabian light crude oil. say $lJor$]2abarrel:' The price oilt'ompanies would Rllt for shale oil has ~n th~ strongest Single drawback 10 speedier oil. shale develop- ment. 2 FirmSlfevive Hope for 'Dead' Oil-Shale Plans C FROM PAGE 1 ) drntal process and tht' C'orporation's in- ter('st in becoming a partner in Ihe Cob tract. \'illiTE SAUl the modified In-situ proc- ess could produce oil within an $8 to SlI per-barrel price range, A barrel of crude pilcontains42gallons. The modifil"d in-situ proc('ss involves mining out areas leading 10 the chambers. JiilJ said the companies would consider bUilding above-ground retorts to extract oil from what ....ould otherwise be mining wastl"s. A market for the oil is uncertain, Hill said oil would bt- produced at the rate of 50.000 to :)5,001I barrels a day during ini. tial commercIal operations and possibly ittwlct' that rate later. HILI. :\OTElJ TII.\T initial plans 10 ship the oil to the West Coast probably would be abandoned be<'auS(' that area is ('x- peeled to be hit with a glul of Alaskan oil He pomted oul that Ashland is an E-a~lern rcfmer, and that shale oil po..... sibly could be use-d as a petrochemical ft"('(jslock rather than a source of gasoline 9nd'otherfuels. The other three companies that have '''en-int'olved In theC-b tract are ,\llanlic RH:hiield Corp_. TOSCO, Inc., and Shell JiJ Co., which has announcrd it is drop- ping out of the project effective Dec_ 21. _'lOST OII...SHAU: development planll have l'alll'd for constnlction of abme. ground retorts, which would cost an e~li. mated $]2 billion !or units produr:ing 50,000 barrels of oil a day. 'I'he f>l'r- harre! oil price would range from $16 to f25, far more than importt'd oil. Hill said the capital co~t of the proj~t that A.\'hland and Occidental are planning would be oOl"-third to one-half the cost of the above-ground retorting option. The Oceidrntal conct'pt. was giH'n a boost Tut'way by the- Energy ReSearch and De\'elopment Admimstratlon lERDAj In an official'slestim()ny Ix>fore II Senate subcommittee in Washin/;tton. Dr. Philip C. While, ERDA's fossil fuels direclor, sald, "In sllu productIOn meth. ods are 3ttracting industry and go\'ern. mentinll"rest" White sp<'cificalJy singled out the Oed- Conrinu~d on page J, 0058