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<br />. <br /> <br />t-.. <br />to <br />o <br /> <br />~~ <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />tax exemptions, d~ties on i~~orted petroleum, and other economic incen- <br />tives. Even ~ich such assistcnce, shale oil has ~O( bee~ economically <br />cOQpetitive with p~trolel!B fuels. Now, with the world picture of pet~Q- <br />leum prices r2.pidly cr..3.ngi.!".g 2nd j.n th~ f2.ce. of dr...indling petroleum <br />reserves, interest is reviving in the development of a shale oil <br />industry in the United Staces. <br /> <br />The major focus and emphasis of the renewed and continuing interest <br />in oil shale in this country is in the Upger Colorado River Sasin states <br />of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. It is in this area that the richest <br />resources have been identified. He=e, also, ~ini~g potential seems <br />much more likely since the de?osits consist of thick layers (sev~ral <br />hundred feet in ~any cas~s) of ~aterial. The extensive research con- <br />ducted on the resource ~n this ar~a has proven that there is a tremendous <br />amount of energy potential stored in wh3t are considered to be high-grade <br />de?osits. <br /> <br />The Green Rive!' For:nation i3 t:-le geologic source of the :nost abundant <br />United States oil shales. lrfnile most oil reser'l€S of the world were d.=.;posited <br />under marine conditions, deposition of the Green River oil shales occurred in <br />a lacustrine (lake) environment. Tha three ancient lakes in which the <br />Gr2e~ River For:nation w~s deposited wer2 stable, t~o-lajer lakes ~hich <br />did not overt~r~ ann~ally as ~ost lakes do, ?robably due to their great <br />de?ch. It is the quiescent lake situation ~hich c:eaced the flexible, <br />very thinly 12minated de~osits. The special t~e~al and chemical <br />ch2racteristics of the lakes i~ whic~ the Gr~en ?iver Formation (Lake <br />Uinta in Colorado and [jtah, Lake Gosiute in Wyoming, and a third. <br />lake in ~yoningl5 Fossil syncline) ~as formed, allowed the de?osition <br />of thin-beddt:?:d oi!. shal~s, and a Cl'..Hilber of relativ~ly rare ,:.arboClate <br />miCl€!-r-als, ......hich occur throughol.l.t the fot"TiJ.ation. <br /> <br />A.dditional Jlin~r.3.1 mate~ials ';oiere. de!?'Jsited ~.n.tn the organic !ratter <br />~hich becaQe the kerogen of the oil. shale deposits. The chemistry of <br />depositiorI is extremely compLe:< (see Table C.2 in ~j,.ppe:1dix C). Only a <br />few that have p2rticular econa~ic significonce are discussed here. <br />N2hcolite, a sodiu~ bic.3.rbon.::.t~ ~;.ateri.al, is ab,-,nd3.nt. The ;13hcolite: <br />could be used as a source of soda ash or it could find a market as is, <br />to be used in air pollution control devices. Da~3onite couid beco~le a <br />source of alumina rivaling bauxit2 deposits in the United St3tes. In <br />south~estern Wyoming. trona is currently bei~g mined co~ercially to <br />produce soda ash. Halite, a standard salt, is also abund2nt in the <br />deposits. <br /> <br />It is difficult to assess the total amount of the oil shale rescurce, <br />but it is generally estimated to 'be vast. The Green River Formation is <br />esti~ated to contain ~ore than 3 trillion barre~s ot oil-equivalent <br />in-place. In Colorado, conti:u.uolJs oil shale sections 15 t.o 2,000 feet <br />thick and averaging at least 15 gallons ?~r ton (g~t) exist unde~ 1,380 <br />square miles. These sections contain richer portions averaging 25 gp: <br />that repres2nt 400 billion barrels of oil. Sections ave~aging 25 gpt <br />in Utah 2re 15 to 150 feet thick and represe~t 120 billion barrels of <br />oil i~-place. Those in Wyoming 3r~ 15 to 80 fe~t thick and ~epresent <br /> <br />1-2 <br />