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GAO: Recoverable Oil in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming 'About Equal to Entire World’s Proven

Oil Reserves:

GAO: Recoverable Oil in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming 'About Equal to Entire World

Quote:

“USGS estimates that the Green River Formation contains about 3 trillion barrels of oil, and about half of this may be recoverable, depending on available technology and economic conditions,” Mittal testified.

“The Rand Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, estimates that 30 to 60 percent of the oil shale in the Green River Formation can be recovered,” Mittal told the subcommittee. “At the midpoint of this estimate, almost half of the 3 trillion barrels of oil would be recoverable. This is an amount about equal to the entire world's proven oil reserves.”

These shale oil reserves (estimates with current technology) 1.5 Trillion Barrells recoverable are in addition the Bakken reserves.

Shell has a process to extract this oil @ $40/bbl.

Oil Shale Development in the United States: Prospects And Policy Issues - James T. Bartis - Google Books

Re: GAO: Recoverable Oil in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming 'About Equal to Entire World’s Pr

That's all great. So anyways....

"WASHINGTON -- A new report from the National Research Council examines and, when possible, estimates "hidden" costs of energy production and use -- such as the damage air pollution imposes on human health -- that are not reflected in market prices of coal, oil, other energy sources, or the electricity and gasoline produced from them. The report estimates dollar values for several major components of these costs. The damages the committee was able to quantify were an estimated $120 billion in the U.S. in 2005, a number that reflects primarily health damages from air pollution associated with electricity generation and motor vehicle transportation. The figure does not include damages from climate change, harm to ecosystems, effects of some air pollutants such as mercury, and risks to national security, which the report examines but does not monetize.

Requested by Congress, the report assesses what economists call external effects caused by various energy sources over their entire life cycle -- for example, not only the pollution generated when gasoline is used to run a car but also the pollution created by extracting and refining oil and transporting fuel to gas stations. Because these effects are not reflected in energy prices, government, businesses and consumers may not realize the full impact of their choices. When such market failures occur, a case can be made for government interventions -- such as regulations, taxes or tradable permits -- to address these external costs, the report says.

The committee that wrote the report focused on monetizing the damage of major air pollutants -- sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone, and particulate matter – on human health, grain crops and timber yields, buildings, and recreation. When possible, it estimated both what the damages were in 2005 (the latest year for which data were available) and what they are likely to be in 2030, assuming current policies continue and new policies already slated for implementation are put in place."

National-Academies.org | Newsroom

And for tons of other publications on the subject of actual energy costs (Google is the friend of the intellectually curious):

Google

Re: GAO: Recoverable Oil in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming 'About Equal to Entire World’s Pr

If it were found to be feasible to extract this oil, the US should keep it ALL to ourselves....I hosey no sharing.