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Show Utah companies get DOE synfuel funds Two Utah firms, a Colorado energy company and Amoco Oil are among the first recipients of federal grants and project approvals to fund studies on the feasibility of developing synthetic fuels in the west. Rep. Gunn McKay, D-Utah, last week v said 100 grants were given out under terms of the McKay-McDade Synthetic Fuels Bill. The legislation provides the nation's first large-scale commitment to commercial development of alternative alter-native fuels from such resources as tar sands, oil shale, biomass and coal, he said. Mountain Fuel Supply Co., Salt Lake, received $1,810,762 from the U.S. Department of Energy. The firm will ' couple the grant with $2,525,395 of its own funds to conduct a study on the feasibility of producing natural gas from tight sands iri the Pinedale field of Sublett County, Wyo. McKay said Mountain Fuel plans to begin production of the synthetic fuel by 1983. Geokinetics, Uintah County, Utah, was given $1,904,339 to finance an 18- month study on extracting oil from shale by surface retort processes. The company plans production of between 2.000 and 7,800 barrels of oil per day by 1985, the congressman said. Paraho Development Corp., Grand Junction, Colo., received $3,151,064 for a year-long feasibility study on the recovery of oil from shale in the Uintah Basin. McKay said that project is expected to provide about 30,000 barrels of oil per day by 1984. Standard Oil of Indiana (Amoco) received federal approval to conduct a $2,135,000 company-financed study on the feasibility of using solvents to extract ex-tract oil from tar sands at the Sun-nyside Sun-nyside site in Carbon County, Utah. When completed, the project should produce about 50,000 barrels of oil per day, McKay said. He said 900 applications were considered con-sidered in giving the 100 awards. The synfuels bill provides direct loans, loan guarantees and guaranteed purchase contracts to firms interested in developing alternative sources of energy. |