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UPI Correspondent Washington (UPI) Jan 15, 2007 A U.S. Department of Energy project has demonstrated the viability of a new technology that might unlock the nation's largest potential source of oil. Government scientists say the United States holds more than three-fourths of the world's estimated 2.6 trillion barrels of oil-in-place of oil shale, with 1.1 trillion barrels of oil equivalent believed recoverable in the richest single deposit -- the Green River formation of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming -- a volume nearly 50 percent greater than the conventional oil reserves of the entire Middle East. Oil shale contains a substance called kerogen that is thought to be a precursor to petroleum. Kerogen cannot be extracted like oil that is pumped from a reservoir. The oil shale rock must be heated to a high temperature and the resulting liquid must be separated and collected. The project involves a technology that can heat oil shale in situ, several thousand feet below the surface, separating kerogen without mining the oil shale rock. By eliminating mining and large-scale processing aspects of oil shale development, such in situ technology could slash recovery costs by half or more while minimizing disturbance of the land, researchers said.
Source: United Press International Related Links US DoE Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com
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