SALT LAKE CITY - Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr. believes that more than a trillion barrels of oil can be extracted from Utah -- by pulling it from carbon-rich rocks -- but he's afraid that the next U.S. president might kill the opportunity.
Speaking at an oil shale symposium at the Colorado School of Mines on Monday, Gov. Huntsman expressed hope that the U.S. Interior Department will write final regulations that will ultimately allow for development of the shale. A congressional ban on using federal funds to write the regulations expired last month, and Gov. Huntsman is urging officials to act while they can.
President Bush favors the development of oil shale, as a means to remove the country's dependence on foreign oil. But Gov. Huntsman is afraid that the next commander in-chief might not be -- and that any chance for Utah to start exporting oil might soon be lost.
"My bottom line to you is, that we in our state are open to business as it relates to oil shale," Huntsman said at the symposium.
Experts have said that more than a trillion barrels of oil are currently trapped in a belt of oil shale, that runs through central Utah, Colorado and Wyoming. If that were true, the three states would harness roughly
three times the amount of oil currently held in Saudi Arabia.
Utah, Colorado and Wyoming hold the world's largest supply of oil shale, which could create serious economic prosperity and many new jobs. Also, Huntsman noted, the shale's development might effectively end American dependence on imported oil.
But could milking oil from carbon-rich rocks really work? Factors exist that could turn the development project into a gigantic waste of money -- and precious land.
Extracting oil from shale isn't easy, and some experts say the efforts to produce oil from shale do more harm than good.
Development of oil shale in Utah could cause significant damage to the environment, not only in terms of physical land destruction, but through the release of more carbon emissions into the atmosphere.
Oil shale is rock that contains hydrocarbons, which scientists say can be extracted from the Earth and broken up. The shale can then be cooked in a machine to produce crude oil. That oil, in theory, could be used to create regular gasoline.
Additionally, attempting to produce crude oil from shale is an expensive procedure -- meaning that the ultimate result might not even see gasoline prices lower much at the pump than they are now.
Of course, it's important to remember that the idea of Utah becoming one of the world's largest oil producers is entirely based on the chance that the shale-to-crude conversion even works in the first place. Over the past 100 years, many people have tried to create crude oil from shale but no attempts have ever proven to be successful.
That means that taking a shot at oil shale development this time might entirely rely on modern technology's ability to make it work. And that is far from a guarantee, some experts say.
Critics of the federal plan note that companies are still testing technology to tap the kerogen, a precursor that wasn't buried deeply enough or naturally processed long enough to complete the transformation to oil.
Nonetheless, Gov. Huntsman believes that in the face of an ongoing energy challenge, the U.S. should latch onto the chance that making crude oil from shale can actually work.
"For the first time in a generation, I would argue we have a real shot at actually getting something done," he said.
