| Description |
The President and the Department of Energy have determined that increasing liquid fuels supply from domestic sources is an important national objective. America's rich and concentrated oil shale resources, containing as much as 2 trillion barrels of potential oil supply could make a major contribution toward that objective. A domestic oil shale industry would reduce import dependence and associated costs to the U.S. economy while creating thousands of stable, high-paying jobs and stimulating economic activity here at home. Significant public and private collaboration and investment will be required to initiate a domestic oil shale industry and achieve meaningful quantities of shale oil production in the foreseeable future. It is now both prudent and timely for Federal decision-makers to consider the strategic potential of oil shale to meet the nation's energy needs and to stimulate the domestic economy. Global conventional oil production is projected to peak and decline while global demand is projected to continue to rise, reaching a point where demand will likely exceed supply in the first half of this century. Rising imports of crude oil and refined products, and higher prices driven by rising demand, are already costing the U.S. economy billions of dollars per year. If not addressed quickly, deteriorating global market conditions will result in even higher oil prices and reduced availability of light oil. This could threaten U.S. economic security, limit the fuels available to the military and first responders to defend American interests at home and abroad, and significantly impact the standard of living enjoyed by Americans today. Oil shale development efforts conducted in this country by government and industry between 1970 and 1993 provide a sound foundation of information and experience on which to build a new oil shale industry. A detailed assessment, entitled "Strategic Significance of America's Oil Shale Resources" , was completed by this office in March 2004. As a next step, this Roadmap for Federal Decision-Making offers a path for assessing oil shale's potential benefits and impacts and developing and implementing a program to initiate a domestic oil shale industry. The Roadmap provides a structure for organizing key Federal agencies (Energy, Interior, Defense, and Treasury) to define oil shale objectives and strategy and develop a multi-agency program plan. Plan elements and initiatives, to be developed with input from key stakeholders, could include oil shale leasing, technology development and demonstration, economic incentives, regulatory streamlining, environmental assessment, and infrastructure development. Immediate next steps include completion of baseline analyses to support program planning efforts, organization of Federal participants and other stakeholders, development of an oil shale strategy, and development of an integrated multi-agency Federal oil shale plan. This roadmap suggests the potential roles of the State and Federal government, industry, affected communities, and other stakeholders in developing a viable domestic oil shale industry. Recognizing the long lead-times required for industry development and the urgency of increasing domestic fuels supplies, the roadmap provides an aggressive timeline and establishes key milestones for initiating Federal actions. These include seeking Congressional authorization early in 2005, preparing an oil shale strategy by March 2005, responding to Congress's request for an assessment of oil shale feasibility by May 2005, completing initial program plans by June 2005, and initiating program activities by October 1, 2005. |
