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The debate about the future of the controversial oil shale industry will make an appearance on Sept. 7 at the meeting of the Garfield County commissioners.
Energy industry liaison Judy Jordan is on tap give the Board of County Commissioners an update on the latest estimates about how much water may be needed to extract the estimated 1.2 trillion barrels of “oil” trapped in subterranean rock strata in the Piceance Basin, which is bisected by the Colorado River as it passes through Garfield County.
The “oil” actually is a substance called kerogen that can be separated from the surrounding rock by applying heat.
Jordan told the Post Independent on Friday that she will be basing most of her comments on a recent study by the Colorado River Water Conservation District in Glenwood Springs.
That report, according to CRWCD Deputy General Manager Dan Birch, estimated that extracting the shale oil might take as much as 120,000 acre-feet of water per year, which he said translates to roughly one or two barrels of water used for each barrel of oil produced.
That is considerably less than the 400,000 acre-feet of water per year estimated in a 2008 study by the URS consulting firm, which translated to roughly 3 to 5 barrels of water consumed for every barrel of oil produced.
But, said Birch, even at the lowered estimate, the oil shale industry would use up to approximately 20 percent of all the Colorado River water now being used by agriculture, municipalities and other users around the Western Slope.
The total consumption of Colorado River water by Western Slope users upriver from the 15-Mile Reach, a point just east of Grand Junction, amounts to about 500,000 acre-feet per year, Birch said.
Among the reasons for the reduced estimates of water use, according to the study, is, in part, because earlier estimates were based on the amount of electricity needed to power the “in-situ” process being studied by Royal Dutch Shell. That process would involve using massive amounts of energy to heat up the shale rock in place and draining out the liquid kerogen.
The current thinking, Birch said, is that, “In order to be successful [at extracting and refining the shale oil], you're going to have to come up with a process that uses a lot less power than the Shell process would use.”
Jordan is scheduled to update the commissioners during the early-morning portion of the meeting on Sept. 7, which will begin at 8 a.m.
jcolson@postindependent.com
Energy industry liaison Judy Jordan is on tap give the Board of County Commissioners an update on the latest estimates about how much water may be needed to extract the estimated 1.2 trillion barrels of “oil” trapped in subterranean rock strata in the Piceance Basin, which is bisected by the Colorado River as it passes through Garfield County.
The “oil” actually is a substance called kerogen that can be separated from the surrounding rock by applying heat.
Jordan told the Post Independent on Friday that she will be basing most of her comments on a recent study by the Colorado River Water Conservation District in Glenwood Springs.
That report, according to CRWCD Deputy General Manager Dan Birch, estimated that extracting the shale oil might take as much as 120,000 acre-feet of water per year, which he said translates to roughly one or two barrels of water used for each barrel of oil produced.
That is considerably less than the 400,000 acre-feet of water per year estimated in a 2008 study by the URS consulting firm, which translated to roughly 3 to 5 barrels of water consumed for every barrel of oil produced.
But, said Birch, even at the lowered estimate, the oil shale industry would use up to approximately 20 percent of all the Colorado River water now being used by agriculture, municipalities and other users around the Western Slope.
The total consumption of Colorado River water by Western Slope users upriver from the 15-Mile Reach, a point just east of Grand Junction, amounts to about 500,000 acre-feet per year, Birch said.
Among the reasons for the reduced estimates of water use, according to the study, is, in part, because earlier estimates were based on the amount of electricity needed to power the “in-situ” process being studied by Royal Dutch Shell. That process would involve using massive amounts of energy to heat up the shale rock in place and draining out the liquid kerogen.
The current thinking, Birch said, is that, “In order to be successful [at extracting and refining the shale oil], you're going to have to come up with a process that uses a lot less power than the Shell process would use.”
Jordan is scheduled to update the commissioners during the early-morning portion of the meeting on Sept. 7, which will begin at 8 a.m.
jcolson@postindependent.com
