Interior Finalizes Rule Authorizing Oil-shale Development In Western Us

摘要

The controversial and unproven idea of efficiently extracting oil from oil shale got the nod from the Bush administration last week, as the Interior Department released final regulations for oil-shale development on federal lands in three western states. The regulations will govern development on 1.9 million acres of federal land in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, an area the department estimates could produce the equivalent of 800 billion barrels of oil. Among other things, the regulations set the rates at which companies that develop federal oil-shale leases must pay royalties to the federal government. The regulations will call for a royalty rate that changes over time, starting at 5% for the first five years of production, and rising 1% per year to a cap of 12.5%. The standard royalty rate for onshore drilling on public land is 12.5%, but Interior lowered it to give companies an incentive to develop oil shale.