Show a aBy By Jock Wallis A book entitled Phase 2 Policy Analysis An Assessment of Oil Shale and Tar Sand Development in the State of Utah was released last week by the Utah Energy Office The study goes into great detail outlining Ing the problems that have been en en- en encountered countered and will be encountered in the future development of oil shale and tar sand The important aspect of the study is that the entire study concerns almost ex ex- ex exclusively elusively the rich resource found in Uin Uin- Uintah tah County According to the report Utah contains an estimated billion barrels of shale oil almost all located in Uintah County Utah also has approximately 25 billion barrels of oil In its tar sand deposits 93 percent of the US tar sands In 1980 when the Phase I oil ail shale and tar sand report was issued the major oil projects were White River Shale Project Ute Tosco Sand Wash and Project Two tar sand projects were Great National and the Project In the Phase li II stud study the number of major projects had been to 12 In addition to the four major oil shale projects other projects included Magic Circle and s 's Agen Agen- Agen Agency cy Draw Tar sand projects added were the CA project and two pro pro- projects Rainbow and PR Springs All twelve projects could probably be developed but the likelihood of their do- do doing doing ing so is doubtful according to the Utah Energy study In addition to the problems of making these projects economically justifiable there seems to be many other obstacles standing the way for the aggregate development of synthetic fuels projects in the Uintah Basin On top of the list of restraints is air quality Aggregate emissions may be the limiting factor to energy development in the Uintah Basin Other factors that will determine the extent of the local energy resource development will be availability of labor construction materials waterland water land roads demand for oil and impact problems Even though only two or three of the synthetic fuels projects get into the con con- construction phase it will be a start in the right direction and a step forward in developing a new source of crude oil that thatis thatis is for energy independence t The Utah Energy Office assessment on oil shale and tar sand development painted a rather dismal picture for the industry as a whole when considering all 12 projects But we think the prospects for two or three projects pro is very good As long as we can keep a couple of oil shale projects going we are making progress It probably was not the intention of all 12 projects to get started anyway some of them were probably just shots pot We hope the major oil shale and tar sand projects can keep working away at their heir problems and be ready for comer comer- cia cial 1 production at a future date when the resource will be able to compete with our depleting crude oil One thing we are sure of is that some someday someday day we are going to need all ail the synthetic crude oil we can produce Its It's just a mat mat- matter ter of balancing the cost of production with the price that represents the need for this resource A gradual development of the local resources will be more helpful to the local area than a mad rush to see who can build the biggest and most elaborate operation The Utah Energy Office assessment of the local oil resource gives further evidence to the problems industry faces in its ongoing efforts to make the oil shale and tar sand resource a viable and important im- im important contribution to the future security security ty in bolstering our energy storehouse |