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Show Utah Oil Field Protection Sought by Rep. McKay Congressman Gunn McKay has asked the Energy En-ergy Policy Office to exempt ex-empt the oil fields of the Uintah Basin from a propane gas restriction which he said could cripple crip-ple oil production in that area. "The Energy Policy Office has proposed the regulation and mandatory manda-tory allocation of propane," pro-pane," McKay said. "They have established a priority list, beginning with domestic use and including in-cluding agriculture, food processing and mass transit. The list does not include the use of propane pro-pane in oil production, and it is possible that the oil fields of Eastern Utah could be hurt as a result of this regulation." Propane is necessary in oil production in the Uintah Basin, McKay explained, ex-plained, because the oil is a low-gravity, heavy oil that will congeal and fail to flow unless it is heated. Propane is used to heat the oil in Utah. "The oil processed in this area flows freely until un-til it reaches the sur- i face," McKay said. "FT there is no propane to heat this oil and keep 9 it flowing, there is a distinct possibility that the operations will have to close." It would be the worst possible kind of economy to close the Utah oil fields in the name of propane conservation, McKay said. In addition to oil, the fields are the prime source of propane in Utah, and the restriction would doubly hurt the Utah fuel supply. The Utah congressman said he would seek to have Utah fields exempted from the propane restrictions, re-strictions, or have propane pro-pane use in oil production produc-tion included on Ihe priority list from the Energy En-ergy Policy Office. |
