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<br />Phillips, Sun bid $ 75 million for Utah tract
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<br />Phjllips Petroleum Co. and Sun Oil
<br />Co. bid $15,596,800 Tuesday for the right
<br />to lease a 5,l2()..acre tract of fcderalland
<br />in Utah for oil shale de\-eJopm('nt.
<br />The PhilliPl'+Sun bid wa~ thl' hi~hf'!;t of thrl'e
<br />bids submitted 10 the U.S. Bure3U or Land
<br />~fanag(>ment (81...\0 in Sail Lake Cit)' for the
<br />2O-)'earle3se.
<br />The other 1\\"0 lJiddf'rs \\l're Occid...ntal Oil
<br />Shall', Inc. or Bakl"N;field, C'illiL, which bid
<br />$:n,012.22~ and the Geokint'lics Cro.lll of Con.
<br />cord, Cali!., whkh bid ni70,OOI. P'hillip<; i~
<br />b3s('d In Bart[{>s\-ille, Okla, and Sun is a Oris.
<br />ware corporation.
<br />Tht'bids were on the ti("'!;l of h\o)Vtah tract->
<br />to be lea~M under the IX'1..:ulmenl of the In-
<br />terior's prutotypr If'asing I'rngrarn
<br />Two fimilarl)' siz('{l Iract,; already h>lve
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<br />!JeE>n leased in Colorado. TIlt' fin;t, and by far
<br />the richest in shale deposits, .....('nt to Standard
<br />Oil (11. of Indiana and Gulf Oil Qlrp. for a ('Om.
<br />bined. bid of SZlO million" TIle serond went to a
<br />consortium of compilnit"S healll'd by ,\tlantic
<br />Richfield Co. for ll. bid of $118 million.
<br />Yet 10 be leasE'd are a seC<Jll1:! Ctah tract and
<br />tv,,'OinW}'mning.
<br />('O;\II>AJ{L'it):-i OF TR.-\('TS
<br />The newl}' leaSl'd Utah parc('1 - designated
<br />tract U-a - contains an estimated 7'12 million
<br />barn>ls of oU In shale be-d 550 to 1,225 f('(>t thick"
<br />Sy comparison, thE' Colorado tracts contain
<br />estimated r'!"SE'n"es or 1.3 billion baITf'ls and 'i23
<br />million barrels of oil.
<br />Th(' adjacE'nt sE'cond l'lah tract, b to bl!'
<br />leased April 8, Both tracts a1'l" located just
<br />south of the White RIv('or ",limn ]0 mill"s or the
<br />Colorado bordl"1', Vl'mal, Utah Is ~O miles to
<br />the north and Rang('ol}', (blo., is 25 miles to the
<br />norteast,
<br />Although the semi-arid rl'glon g('on('or:J.lly has
<br />less than 20 pl"r cent groundcoH'r, IKlth the
<br />Utah tracts support abundant wildlife, includ.
<br />ing "healthy" populations of mule' det"r, moun.
<br />tain lion, coyote, bobcat, rabbits !lnd Kame and
<br />non-game birds and other animals, accordin!1:
<br />to fE'deralwildlife ex/>t'rts"
<br />Important roosting and nestinl{ areas for
<br />bald and golden {'agles Ilre found alung the
<br />e1Hfs and gulches of the arpa. which is fre.
<br />llUenll}' \"isited by the rare prairie falcon.
<br />The-lens in/.: proJ.:ram rails for l'stahli!'hm('nt
<br />or a ;,o.QOO-barrel-a-day oil shale plant b}' 19'30.
<br />Once the lease is aJlprovffl, the leaseholdl'r has
<br />three years In which to develop its final minmlt
<br />plan,
<br />W.\Tt:lt ntn:\I \UIITY., "m,:t::-i 1>1\ nt..:
<br />Interior orficials say there Isn't I'Il(.ugh
<br />~rotInd wale-I' benenth tJle Ctah trarts to sup-
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<br />paM an oil shall' Indust!)". Water probahly will
<br />be drawn from the Wmte and Green Riven.
<br />Utah GO\', Calvin Rampton alrrody has SUM
<br />the Ot>partment or the Interior in an effort to
<br />J:et thl' federal government to turn OH'r to the
<br />sl1lte both the oil shale tracts plus about 150,00.1
<br />acres or ~dditional ff'd{'ralland.
<br />Under the Statehood Act, Utah claims, it is
<br />entitled to the land.
<br />But spokl'smpn for P..ampton said that II lhe
<br />state Is successful in its lawsUit it....iII transfer
<br />the leasing agret'ments from the federal gO\"
<br />rmment to the state gl:l\l'rnm{'nl. That way, the
<br />spokesman said, oil companiE's can procel'd
<br />with theIr oll shale dpvelopme.nt plans without
<br />.....orr)"o\"l."r the state-tederal disputE'.
<br />In a related de\'elopm('nt, a We-sle-rn Slr>{lf
<br />coosE'n'alion group and Ralph :sad....r's national
<br />("onsumer mll'rest o~anizalion, Public Citizen.
<br />(Conrlutl,'d on pllj::" I~)
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<br />$75.5 million bid for Utah tract
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<br />tCobllnllrotllr"mI'RJ:p:'1
<br />have askf'd :\Iorton 10 delay additional lea<.ing.
<br />In a If'lt('r to :\fortolJ, th(' group!< railed lor
<br />prl"parll.tion 'If a sUppll'mf."nt to thf' ]nterior
<br />l)(>partmrnt's six.\"olumf' tinal eO\'irunmental
<br />im~rtstat{'ml'nt,
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<br />C....sig-ning the letter .....ith the :-:f1der
<br />Ol1'"anilation was the Aspt'n-basro f;n\'lronmel}-
<br />tal Task Forc{'. a 150-ml'mber citizen forre
<br />dl"dicatp<1 to tht' pmlediOll or the Roaring Fork
<br />Valle}',
<br />Th" !':roups charJ::f'd that ~omf' of the infor-
<br />matiun rflntainf"d 1n the DE'partmenl of the In-
<br />tf"rior's st<llem<:,nt is "utterly unreliable" be-
<br />~au~.. it ram(' trom r)ij companies with \'E'SI('d
<br />mterl'"t" to undert'slimale oil and Ras 1'esen'es,
<br />The re~(>f\'es eSlimates failed to reflect re-
<br />cent price in."r('ases, Th....y said. The groul_'s
<br />~UI:::~f"st('<,1 a fedpr;iI aucht or oil comrmny daTa
<br />mdudmJ:" a look at the raw data de\"eJ()IlE'd
<br />from core ~amples. well j.:I"O:s and field sur\"e}s.
<br />Th..n' has been mounting pressure in Om-
<br />J:re~~ to elthf'r dela)' additional Jeasing or
<br />'-hangp lhf' lmldmr.;: formula from the preseJlt
<br />bunus bids 10 royalt)" bids, Some congre~sion8l
<br />leadt'f'S NlIltendlhat dMpite the ap(>E'arance or
<br />high bids fur the tracts, the federal program
<br />amounts to a massh'e givenwa)' or publici...
<br />owned mineral rights. The government eontrois
<br />ahout 80 per cent ot all (!iJ shale resenes in the
<br />We~t.
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<br />0038
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