Press Release
Shell Welcomes Award
15/11/2006
Shell Welcomes Award of Colorado Oil Shale Research, Development and Demonstration Leases. The leases entitle Shell to propose RD&D activities on three different technologies.
Shell Frontier Oil & Gas (Shell), a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc. today welcomed the award of three leases by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to allow it to conduct oil shale research, development and demonstration (RD&D) activities on federal lands in the Piceance Basin of North West Colorado.
The leases entitle Shell to propose RD&D activities on three different technologies on nominated 160-acre tracts of land.
Stephen Mut, Vice President Unconventional Resources for Shell Exploration & Production, said, "This is a very important milestone on the road to developing a technology that will allow the commercial development of US oil shale resources in a manner that is economically viable, environmentally responsible and socially sustainable."
The first is a test that will draw upon the learning from the research into each of the component areas of Shell’s patented In-situ Conversion Process (ICP) technology that Shell has been conducting over the past decade into one integrated demonstration project.
Construction and operations will commence once the required permits from the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (DRMS) as well as the necessary air and water permits have been granted.
The two other RD&D tests – an Advanced Heater Test and a Multi-mineral Test – will be pursued at a later stage and will respectively test new heaters designed to increase efficiency and explore recovering oil shale co-mingled with different minerals in the Piceance Basin.
Shell has been conducting research on its own lands in the Piceance Basin since 1996. The award of the RD&D leases will enable Shell to progress its research on deposits that are believed to be best suited for the application of the company’s proprietary technology.
Shell is currently in the early stages of a Freeze Wall Test on its own lands that will be used to demonstrate that the groundwater surrounding any potential oil shale development can be protected. During the test, Shell engineers will attempt to successfully construct, break and repair an underground ice wall around a notional oil shale production area.
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