http://www.energyandcapital.com/aqx_...FQKwPAod7WxWyg

According to this would drop price of crude to $16 a barrel!!! Thats close to the price back in 1995!!

Why hasn't this been front page news and why, if they've known about it for 50 years, not extracted that sweet crude??

 

the issue with oil shale is its takes a lot of energy to convert it to usable oil....

 

Well until lately they have not had a way to extract the oil from the shale, until uptoa year ago. They developed a way of extracting by drilling a central hole to pump it out of the ground and then drilling a hole on either side of the reserve to drop heaters down to heat theoil from the shale. The idea is that it sweats the oil out of the shale and we pump it from the ground, but the only problem with that is that the EPA says that we will contaminate the ground water that runs through the shale. there is also a find like this in Colorado, but until we stop letting the tree huggers run this country and start be self sufficent as a nation we will be paying the high prices set for us.

 

what are the chances of that? I thought big oil ran pretty much whatever it wanted to in this country... Money talks BullSh*t walks??

 

Well unfortantly the EPA does have a say so, and so do the enviromentalists that want us to not harm a blade of grass. I watched a episode of Dateline and they had a story about a small Colorado town that oil was found in the shale and when a refinery was build it had a positive effect on the town, but the enviromentalists have been putting up a stink ever since. I can understand not outright killing our enviroment, but something needs to be done to lessen the burden on the American people or our country is going to go into a depression.

I would also like to know why we do not open the Alaskan pipeline and start drilling more for oil in northern Alaska, because isn't that why the pipeline was built? The treehuggers and enviromentalists think that if we open it up then we will do more harm then good. I say we take all these people that want to live like this and stick them somewhere they can live free and do as they please.

 

At a $100 buck a barrel Bullsh*t's walkin on a solid gold path.

 

It is really enlightening to see some of the comments here.

In regards to the numbers: The USGS numbers are an estimate of what will be found. In all likelyhood production would be over a period of 30+ years, and it would take 10+ years to fully develop the field once all deposits are located. The idea that it would drop the price is ridiculous. While massive, that amount of oil is relatively insignificant given that even Canada has about 180 billion barrels. Given production over a period of decades it is merely a drop in the bucket.

As for the topic of rabbid envrionmentalists, the point is moot. The idea that environmentalists do not want a blade of grass harmed is ridiculous. In fact, the portion of radical environmentalists among those that would call themselves environmentalists is tiny. Ultimately the differences between the more radical environmentalists and the corporations tend to balance out somewhere in the middle. Very few people would object to the exploitation of the field, but they would object to HOW it is done.

There are a number of surface and subsurface issues with drilling. As noted earlier, the water table plays a major role. Drilling improperly tends to cause minor problems such as contaminating the water table. On the surface there can be a number of problems. Most notable is the Alaska issue with the surface soil layer which is more similar to a thin crust...crush it and it takes a century or two to grow back.

 

You mention Alaska andmy point is that we already have pipeline there and have had it for years now, but the main reason it does not open is that people are afraid of an problem with the pipeline that would cause a large oil spill. I know about the fragile soil and that also weights into the factors, but why waste all the money we have spent so far in getting it started. I understand that it is not an immediate cure to the problem we face today, but why not set ourselves up to for a better tommorrow.

 

The risk of pollution is negligible with todays technology. I have seen safety specifications on some of these new oil tankers, probably safer than some of our Navy's subs. And the architectual design of the pipeline itself is a feat of tech and innovation. The problem is the environmental extremists are not willing to sit down and actuall view these little details and consider amending their position. They would rather lobby and spread propaganda. Ever notice how they keep bringing up the Exxon Valdez?

 

The point is though that the environmental extremists are no different than the corporate extremests...they are just on opposite sides of the spectrum. There are people that would literally exploit natural resources with no regard to environmental damage if given the opportunity. Are those the norm or even a very large percentage? Absolutely not. So bringing up the tiny fraction of extreme environmentalists and blaming them for problems is no more valid than pointing out corporate greed and blaming C level executives for environmental problems.