OSEC’s Commitment to the Environment
The White River Oil Shale Mine
1974 -1985
The White River Mine, on 160 acres in northeastern Utah, is one of the richest oil shale areas of the Green River Formation. The mine was developed by Phillips Petroleum, Sun Oil and Standard Oil of Ohio, which leased the mine from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 1974. Over 300 million dollars were spent for the lease and to construct the mine, roads, a bridge, buildings and supporting infrastructure.
When oil prices dropped in the 1980s, the project was discontinued, and the lease was relinquished to the BLM.
2005 and Beyond
In 2005, the BLM solicited applications for oil shale research, development and demonstration (“RD&D”) projects. Six companies applied for the lease of the White River Mine and after a thorough review, the BLM selected Oil Shale Exploration Company, LLC (“OSEC”). The lease gives OSEC access to the estimated 14 million barrels of recoverable shale oil on the property. It also gives OSEC an option to lease an additional 4,960 acres from the BLM, for a total of 5,120 acres. The additional land contains more than 400 million barrels of recoverable shale oil.
Oil Shale Exploration Company
Resources, experience and a proven technology
Resources
OSEC is aggressively leading the charge in Utah to mine, process and market shale oil. OSEC was founded by a consortium of companies with substantial assets and experience in coal mining, material handling and alternative energy.
Experience
With over 20 years of experience in opening, operating and maintaining mines in the United States, Mexico and Venezuela, OSEC and its affiliates are uniquely qualified to reopen and operate the White River Mine for its own research and development and for the benefit of all oil shale research and development in Utah and neighboring states.
Canada's Oil Sands are a Proven Model.
Alberta, Canada, has succeeded in creating a $20 billion per year industry recovering oil from oil sands. The process of creating a synthetic light crude oil from oil sands and the process of creating a synthetic light crude oil from oil shale are comparable, although there are some technical differences in the methods used to process the raw materials. Experts agree that Utah should look to Canada's overall experience as a model for success.
In 2006, The Wall Street Journal featured an article about the "black gold rush" in Alberta, Canada, and the successes energy companies and the Canadian government have seen in producing oil. Currently, Canada produces about 1.1 million barrels of oil per day from oil sands. By 2015, the Canadian government and industry will have invested an additional $80 billion in infrastructure and will be producing 5 million barrels of oil per day.
