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Show Oil Shale Is Vast Plateau Energy Source us to lay on the 03 Industry's platter a tried and proven method of oil recovery from shale." However, no private industry could enter the shale od business tomorrow because there is not now any definitely established system of recovery. Experiments at the Rifle plant which Guthrie believes may prove to be the best methods of od extraction from shale require a great deal more study and testing before they are proved. Lester W. Schramm, assistant to Guthrie, estimated that any commercial shale od plant must have a capacity of 10,000 barrels of od daily, and to become profitable for delivery to the west coast, first major market, would require a plant capable of producing 100,000 barrels per day to make it pay." Such an installation, it is estimated, would cost in the of $400 million to neighborhood erect, including mines. Od shale is not shale, nor does it contain od. That little teaser is not generally known. The rock itself is a magnesium marlstone Rifle Plant Experiments Near End; Industry Next? Colo. The Colorado Plateaus vast and as yet commercially untapped shale oil deposits cannot help but come into industrial existence," according to Boyd Guthrie, superintendent of the governments shale od experiment plant near here. Guthrie, whose experiments are nearing an end, believes that private industry cannot help but go into the shale oil business. But just when private oil companies will start in development of shale oil as a new source of energy is not known, nor would Guthrie hazard a guess. Too, there is no way now to determine production costs and Guthrie believes this one factor is the chief reason private companies have not entered the firms have not entered the oil shale field may be because of the existence of the Department of Interior testing plant at Rifle, which has no secrets and which makes available all of its information concerning processing systems and mining methods. Anyone can ask for and receive the data. Private industry, on the other hand, wants to develop its own methods of treating crude or shale oil and to keep the process secret from competitors to protect its investment and profits. The Rifle experiment station has been in actual production of oil from shale since May of 1947, and Guthrie said that we now have the retorting and mining methods and processes that, if continued field. under tests for another couple of Another reason why private oil years, might make it possible for RIFLE, ... ySk vV. - ! ill sssFS.'1 O- -- J ii II" - 2 W 1 & i i ? f i SSk ,, & ' r vT.V . I, F& t & A " vW 4 -'W ... 9k, y.i V"iv n.r DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR, Bureau of Mines oU shale experiment station between Rifle and Grand Valley, Colo., in the Colorado River canon, where since 1947 experimentation in recovery of oil from shale taken from cliffs above the plate site. 4, L Ik Xv. jX A ' -'- 11 ' ' JL Men nmmu gold mm is Proud f be a Part f Ibis Cesniiiunitys Progress Wherever you go in the Colorado Plateau, youll find the countryside dotted with farms which are small, independent, industrial plants furnishing selected Grade A Milk to Arden Meadow Gold. In using milk from these selected local farms, Arden Meadow Gold keeps payrolls higher and adds substantially' to the economic growth and progress of your community. So, when you buy Arden Meadow Gold Milk, you are not only treating your family to the best quality milk in the West, but you are helping your own community. Enjoy better milk . . . enjoy better business . . . with Arden Meadow Gold Vitamin D enriched milk. Buy it in the Handy Pitcher-Pourin- g Spout Carton in quarts or half gallons! ARDEN SUilFREZE CREAMERIES A DIVISION OF BEATRICE FOODS & iv'ti. , - - .$ v. I I rather than o3. Under the influence into the top of the retort, and a a ceitain level is subjected to a of heat, the organic matter underheat of 900 degrees fahrenheit, goes a chemical transformation, yielding a black, viscous waxy od. with proper mixtures of air and Because of the high wax content, gas so that the inorganic material the od wid not flow below about 85 degrees fahrenheit. The ledge presently being mined by the Bureau of Mines experimental station near Rifle is at an elevation of 8,200 feet, 3,000 feet above U. S. Higheay 6 & 24 at the bottom of the canyon, and only 500 feet from the top of Roan Plateau above the od shale cliffs. To reach the mine yard requires a drive in a government-owne- d veicle (privately owned cars are not allowed on the property) over a road literally dug out of the side of the mountains. At the mine entrances (there are two now, a third will be opened later) all gasoline powered vehicles are halted. But huge diesel burning trucks drive in and out of the 35 foot high by wide mine. From the mine the shale is hauled by truck to the crushers, where it is reduced to the required size before it goes into the rtort. The huge retort looks from the outside like a mechanical giant of some kind, but the operation itself is quite simple. The rocky substance Is poured 15-t- 60-fo- in the rock is transformed into a mist that rises and is carried away in a large pipe to another section of the plant which removes unwanted materials, such as nitrogen and sulphur. As the mist cools part of it beocomes liquid oil and is carried to storage tanks. Part of it is gas, and is returned to the retort to burn in the chamber. Guthrie comments that it is feasible to erect a privately-owneplant at the Rifle site, turning out 12 per cent of the nations od, and such a plant would produce gas as a byproduct in sufficient quantities to generate 14 5 billion kilowatts of electrical energy. Seme shale in Colorado averages about 15 gallons of oil to the ton and would provide about 409 d billion barrels of oil This particu- lar shale has not yet been mined. Other shale, like that now being mined at Rifle, can pioducn 30 gallons of oil per ton, and has a reserve of 130 billion barrels of od. Paso Plans 200 Wells in San Juan El The El Paso Natural Gas Co., one of the big producers in tht San Juan Basin of New Mexico, plans to drill 200 new wells ia 1955, according to a company announcement. These would be in addition to 500 already drilled. In a prospectus mailed recently to stockholders, El Paso says it will file application soon with tho FPC for authorization of facilities required to transmit an additional 200 million cubic feet of gas per day from the Basin for delivery to California. In agreements with two other companies, Pacific Northwest and Westcoast Pipeline Transmission, Canadian gas would be made available m the U. S.f WHERE organic materials in and as a part of the agreement Pacific Northwest would sell t rock are transformed into oil El approximately 250,000,000 at the Rifle oil shale plant op- cubicPaso feet of gas daily to be deerated by the government. livered at a point near Boise, Idaho. This retort has handled as El Paso, in turn, would build much as 250 tons of shale pier a pipe line from Boise to day, recovering 7,500 gallons the California border, possibly ia of oil from that tonnage. the neighborhood of Reno, Nev. 370-mi- le t- - |
