Oil shale in the United States: prospects for development

Journal Article · Tue May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1984 · Econ. Rev.; (United States)

OSTI ID:7070499

Drabenstott, M; Duncan, M; Borowski, M

The development of an oil shale industry has had its ups and downs throughout this century. Despite vast reserves of recoverable shale oil, energy prices usually have been high enough to make extraction of that oil commercially viable. The tripling and then tripling again of world oil prices in the 1970s gave initial promise that development had become economically feasible. After only a few years of rapid development activity, however, the effort was brought to a near-halt by falling world oil prices. The results were a substantial reduction in economic activity for northwestern Colorado and, maybe more importantly, sharply lower expectations for the region's future economic growth. In both the upturn and the downturn, the local public sector was essentially shielded from financial stress because the energy companies helped fund public spending on infrastructure and services. The future for oil shale remains uncertain. A few energy companies continue to pursue their development plans. To spur development of commercial scale plants, Synthetic Fuels Corporation has made loan and price guarantees to energy firms. Some projects may soon be extracting oil, providing needed technological and financial information on various techniques of oil extraction. But the future for oil shale remains clouded by uncertainties regarding the cost of producing syncrude and future oil prices. Environmental issues could also hamper oil shale development. Therefore, oil shale remains, as it has for more than a century, a technical and economic enigma that has only begun to be understood and developed. 8 references, 3 figures, 3 tables

• Research Organization: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, MO
• OSTI ID: 7070499
• Journal Information: Econ. Rev.; (United States), Journal Name: Econ. Rev.; (United States)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
OIL SHALE INDUSTRY
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
RESOURCE ASSESSMENT
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
USA
ENERGY SOURCE DEVELOPMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FINANCING
ECONOMICS
INDUSTRY
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
NORTH AMERICA
040800* - Oil Shales & Tar Sands- Economics
Industrial
& Business Aspects
294004 - Energy Planning & Policy- Oil Shales & Tar Sands
530100 - Environmental-Social Aspects of Energy Technologies- Social & Economic Studies- (-1989)