Former reserve director testifies about oil shale

RBC I Anton Dammer, former director of the Naval Oil Shale Reserve, testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 20, 2012, regarding the development of oil shale resources in the United States. A summary of his testimony follows:
“The development of the oil sands resource in Alberta, Canada, is successful because in the early stages of development they introduced a process of institutional planning and management that was transparent and open to the public, industry, government and the native aboriginal population. These institutions were responsible for sustaining progress in development through dramatic fluctuations in world oil prices.
There are many similarities in the Alberta oil sands and U.S. oil shale resources; sharing many of the technical and developmental attributes and risks associated with mined and in-situ produced unconventional hydrocarbon resources. While there was always interest in these massive hydrocarbon resources, development of both resources began in earnest as a direct result of the Arab Oil Embargo in the early 1970’s. Billions were invested on both sides of the border.
The precipitous fall of oil prices in the early 1980’s resulting from the ramp-up of Saudi production essentially closed down the U.S. oil shale industry. And until the Energy Policy Act of 2005, interest in oil shale development in the United States remained more-or-less in remission. Canada, on the other hand, did not abandon their oil sands research and development and today they have 176 billion barrels of proved reserves, are energy independent, and have created tremendous wealth for the province of Alberta and Canada.
Though late in the game, the United States has a similar opportunity thanks to its massive oil shale resource. We have arguably the largest and most concentrated hydrocarbon resource on earth located in a reasonably small area of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming — 2 trillion barrels. Eighty percent of that resource is on federal land. The Energy Policy Act of 2005, Section 369 provides a template for planning the development of that valuable resource.
We should follow the lead of our Canadian neighbors, as EPACT 05 suggests, and implement the requisite plans and programs to develop our oil shale resources in a rational and sustainable manner — as recommended in the Section 369 (h) Task Force on Strategic Unconventional Fuels report to the President and Congress. (www.unconventionalfuels.com)”