BLM Oil Shale

From: Oil & Gas Journal 

French, Canadian, and private US companies are set to launch a $200 million joint venture to develop oil shale in the Uinta basin of Utah.

The US affiliate of Total SA, Paris, will fund 80% of the cost of an early production system to demonstrate the commercial scalability of a proprietary process owned by Red Leaf Resources Inc., Sandy, Utah, a private Delaware corporation.

As part of its agreement with Red Leaf, Total has the right to license Red Leaf’s patented EcoShale In-Capsule Process for use at other future oil shale projects worldwide and has become a shareholder of Red Leaf. Red Leaf reported completing a $100 million equity offering in connection with the closing of the JV with Total.

From: Cape Fear Business News

Untapped Potential Could Make U.S. World’s Largest Oil Producer

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy told a Congressional committee today that the U.S. could completely alter global energy markets and secure America’s energy future if it commits to pursuing commercialization of unconventional oil resources.

Karen Harbert testified at a House Committee on Science, Technology and Space hearing to discuss the potential of unconventional oil resources to create jobs, lower fuel prices and produce energy. Others on the panel included Andrew Slaughter, chair of the Resource and Supply Group of the National Petroleum Council, and Dr. Michelle Foss, chief energy economist at the University of Texas at Austin.

From: Marketwatch

SANDY, UT, Apr 18, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Utah-based Red Leaf Resources, Inc. (‘Red Leaf’) has announced the March 28, 2012 closing of a joint venture for oil shale development in Utah with Total E&P USA Oil Shale, LLC (‘Total’), a US affiliate of Total SA, the 5th largest international integrated oil and gas company.

From: NBC 11 News

Mesa County Commissioners call on the Bureau of Land Management to stop its plans to restrict oil shale leasing.

Monday, the three commissioners unanimously passed a resolution that opposes the BLM’s 2012 Oil Shale and Tar Sands Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (OSTS PEIS).

Previously, the BLM opened about 2 million acres of public land for potential oil shale development in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming under the 2008 OSTS PEIS. But now, the agency plans to reduce the acreage to around 400,000.

So Mesa County joins Garfield and potentially 11 other counties to protest the new plan.

From: NGI Shale Daily

Although already under environmental appeal, Utah state officials issued a permit the last week in March to a Delaware-based company to a begin a large oil shale extraction project that eventually could cover up to 1,500 acres in the Uintah Basin. It could end up being one of the largest oil shale mining operations in the state.

Red Leaf Resources plans to extract the oil and ship it to customers throughout Utah, Wyoming and the Gulf of Mexico coast. After the state Division of Oil, Gas and Mining agreed to permit the project, the decision was almost immediately appealed by the environmental group Living Rivers.

From: KSL

By Amy Joi O’Donoghue

SALT LAKE CITY — State regulators are giving the go-ahead to what could be one of the largest oil shale mining operations in Utah by granting a permit for the company closest to getting the material out of the ground.

Red Leaf Resources is proposing to begin large-scale oil shale extraction on close to 1,500 acres in the Uintah Basin and ship the extracted oil to customers in Utah, Wyoming and in the the Gulf Coast region.