By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, June 22 -- The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced terms and conditions for oil shale research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) on federal land.
BLM said its aim is "to promote commercially viable and environmentally sound oil shale technology" in the US, which holds more than half of the world's oil shale resources�the equivalent of 2.6 trillion bbl of oil.
"Developing oil shale can help us increase domestic oil production while reducing our dependence on foreign energy supplies," said Tom Lonnie, BLM's assistant director for minerals, realty, and resource protection.
Oil shale underlies 16,000 sq miles of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, 72% of it federal land. Lonnie said US companies "are requesting the opportunity to access public lands to test these new technologies, and the BLM is taking action to facilitate this access."
BLM called on interested parties to nominate public lands for oil shale RD&D activities by Sept. 9.