DOI completes first Colorado oil shale projects' EIS

Nov. 14, 2006
The US Department of the Interior found no significant negative impact from five planned oil shale research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) projects in Colorado's Piceance basin.

Nick Snow
Washington Correspondent

WASHINGTON, DC, Nov. 14 -- The US Department of the Interior found no significant negative impact from five planned oil shale research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) projects in Colorado's Piceance basin.

C. Stephen Allred, assistant Interior secretary for land and minerals management, signed decision records for the projects proposed by Chevron USA Inc., EGL Resources Inc., and Shell Frontier Oil & Gas Inc. on Nov. 13, effectively clearing the way for 160-acre leases associated with each proposal to be issued.

The Green River oil shale formation, which covers parts of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, holds the equivalent of 800 billion bbl of recoverable oil, more than 70% of which lies under federally managed lands.

"These RD&D projects will allow us to test our belief that we have the knowledge and expertise to develop this resource effectively, economically, and with responsibility to the environment and to local communities," Allred said.

The findings were based on environmental assessments conducted by the department's Bureau of Land Management, which examined each project's potential impacts as well as all five projects' cumulative impacts combined with other oil and gas developments in the area.

Each finding is supported by extensive mitigation impacts, which will be added as stipulations to the leases, DOI officials said. They added that the companies holding the leases will need to submit detailed development plans and obtain all required state, local, and federal permits before beginning any on-site activities.

Allred said that federal, state, and local governments and community partners cooperated during BLM's environmental assessments, and added that all stakeholders would continue to play an integral role as DOI moves forward with oil shale development.

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].