[steveo395]

Originally Posted by Hail2theskins

Very Very Very damaging to the environment harvesting Oil Shale. Also waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to expensive to legitimately consider it a viable resource because of two major factors. 1 refining shale into crude or usuable oil is a very expensive processs and 2 due to the regulations this country has in place now that if strip mine anything you have to replace to close to 80 % of its former habitat just make oil shale really an afterthought. I do believe the US could become the largest oil producer once we perfect deep offshore drilling, Theres pockets of Oil in the gulf that would make a middle eastern gusher look like some podunk oil farm in texas.

They aren't going to strip mine it.

Instead of mining the shale, since 1996 Shell has experimented with in situ, or in-place, extraction of oil from the ground. Twenty-five miles southwest of Meeker, a ranching town in northwest Colorado, drilling rigs, compressors, ducts and tanks are scattered across a pinon- and juniper-covered plateau, connected to scores of electric heaters sunk hundreds of feet underground.

At each production site, the powerful heaters extend down hundreds of feet, stretching vertically through a cylindrical area of shale about 100 feet in diameter. They then heat the area to about 700 degrees Fahrenheit -- for two to three years.

During this period, the heat ages the kerogen by the geological equivalent of millions of years, chemically transforming it into a high-grade oil that is easily pumped to the surface. In an experiment that ended in May, 1,500 barrels of light, sweet crude were produced from one site.

O'Connor, the Shell executive, says these techniques have been highly successful but need several more years of testing.

One danger is that the oil might pollute the surrounding water table. To prevent that, Shell plans to surround each heated area with a frozen barrier about 10 feet thick, chilled by pipes of pressurized aqueous ammonia.

Machinery is being installed now to create a circular freeze-wall about 1,700 feet deep. When it is finished, engineers will simulate an environmental emergency by pumping water at high pressure outside the wall to try to force a rupture. Then they will rush to plug the break and re-create the barrier. "We believe that we can produce large amounts of oil with no adverse environmental impact, but we're proceeding slowly and responsibly to make sure this is true, to cover all contingencies," O'Connor said.

and

O'Connor said the company expects commercial production to be profitable as long as international oil prices are at least in the low $30s per barrel, far below the current $70 average.