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<br /> <br /> <br />Rock~~ <br /> <br />A St.;pp.-Mo..".dNe,,>pope' <br /> <br /> <br />J I 6TH YEAR, NO, 86 <br /> <br />~O'g lJ S Po., 00. <br /> <br />.""',..........,__"'f.,J......,..,.......~'o <br />So<....,;"".................oo".,.r__ <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />FINAL <br />fDlTla,,", <br /> <br />ews <br /> <br />rOREcAsr, <br />V.,i..".clOu<l",... <br /> <br /> <br />10' <br /> <br />DENVER, COLORADO 80201, WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 1974 <br /> <br />160PAGES, <br /> <br />Confjdentiallnterior study ignores feasibility <br /> <br />Push for shale development intensifying <br /> <br />RyHIClt\FW J. snl~EmER <br /> <br />'c""la!t <br /> <br />With the government's prototype oil <br />shale leasing program han'ly started. <br />pressure already is building inside the In- <br />terior Department to push shale develop- <br />ment to its full proouction capacity. <br />This bt>came clear Tll/:'sdav when the <br />Rocky \1l1\mtain ~ews ohtained a copy of <br />an internal Interior rkpartment study. <br />It sa~'s key decisions on whether to pro. <br />Ct"ed with full shall' den'lopm!'nt must be <br />made quickl.\'. and additional lrases might <br />have to be put up for bid as earl.~' as 1976- <br />a full four vears bt'fon' r('sults of the <br />protot~.pe prtlgram an' scht'duled to be <br />known_ <br />Ost€'nsihl.\' the wholt' purpo.;(' of the <br /> <br />prototype leasin~ was to gel working- ex, <br />perience on whIch t1) base a (jrcision <br />'whether large-scale oil production from <br />shale was environmentalh'. social1v and <br />('('onomic;Jllv pos~ilble.' , <br />The intenial study, prepared b,' Interi, <br />or's Intcragencv Oil Shale Task Force and <br />.stamped "For Gon'rnment Us(' Unl~'," is <br />a draft report to Iht' Federal Energ\' <br />Administration I FEAl, <br />The new urg:('ncy about shale de\'('lop. <br />ment results from "Project Inrlepo:'nd, <br />ence," the :'ilxl)n .-\drnlllhtrati'Jn-s plan to <br />make the U S. St'lf -suffici€'nt in pmdllction <br />of energ~' resources, <br />Eig-ht similar stwlies nil other hopes nf <br />rnerg.\' ar(' l:1I'in~ pn'p;Jrrrl fur submission <br />to the FE:\, Thc.\' wlll hecnme thr b:l.;is [or <br /> <br />the "ProjPct Independence Blueprint." a <br />series of energy policy alternatives due <br />:'im'.l. <br />Project Ind('pendence, which has been <br />criticiwd bv both l'm"ironmt'ntalists and <br />industrv as 'unrealistic. seeks to make the <br />nation 'free from dependence on foreign <br />energ\' sources by 1~181). <br />One potentiall~' controversial aSJX'Ct of <br />the shale studv is it.;; n'cnmmcndation that <br />American tax'pa.\"(>rs underwrite oil shale <br />development II) makt" surf' oil ('Qffipam' <br />profits arC-' kf'pt high enough In maintain <br />Ih(> companies' interest <br />The slurh" lists threE-' possible rat('s of <br />al'Ct'krauon In oil shale development _ <br />"rmtimislic" Ilht' greatest lewl of ('-xpan' <br />slon I, "most hkely" :Jnd "p('s'ilrnistic '. <br /> <br />Perhaps significantly, only the <br />"pessimistic" rate of shale development <br />would be possihle under the timetable ini. <br />tially announccd for the prototype leasing <br />prORram. <br />Additional lease sales would have to <br />start in 1976 to reach the optimistic <br />production level of 2,5 million barrels a <br />day by 1990. the studv concluder! <br />The most Iikel... rate of 1,6 milhon bar. <br />rels a dav could"Ix' reached if new leases <br />went on sale in 1977. and the pessimistic <br />rate of 7.'>0.000 barrels a d;w if leases were <br />sold starting in 19M. ' <br />The taller date is when results of the cur. <br /> <br />(('ontinut'd on pagf' 311 <br /> <br />0041 <br /> <br />