An assessment of oil shale and tar sand development in the state of Utah: Phase 2--policy analysis

The potential development of synthetic fuels in the United States has been characterized by a great variation in preceived economies. The interest has been on an upswing during the decade of the 1970's due to the possibility of synthetic fuels lessening U.S. dependence on foreign oil. However, even during this period, the economic viability of a synthetic fuel industry has never been completely established. There exist major questions still unanswered regarding the technologies, capital costs, and impacts of a synthetic fuel industry. Attempts at removing these uncertainties through experimentation and pilot plant operations have not yet yielded adequate information and data. The result has been that the traditional learning curve effects which accompany most developmental processes have failed to resolve the question of synthetic fuel commercialization viability. The State of Utah contains a vast amount of resources which could be utilized by a synthetic fuel industry. The Uintah Basin of northeastern Utah contains an estimated 321 billion barrels of shale oil. Of this amount, it has been estimated that approximately 50 billion barrels are currently recoverable, an amount equal to nearly twice the proven conventional petroleum reserves in the U.S. Utah also has approximately 93 percent of the U.S. tar sand resource. These deposits are estimated to contain over 25 billion barrels of oil. Thus, Utah is in a position to play a central role should a synthetic fuel industry develop. Such a position is substantiated by the large amount of interest shown by potential developers in the Utah resources.