Oil Shale Fact Sheet: Private Shale Resources Are Undeveloped

September 8, 2008

Though proponents of oil shale development claim the need for an expedited federal oil shale leasing program, the Department of Energy’s Office of Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves has estimated that more than three million acres of oil shale lands in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming are already in private hands and have been for decades. While several large companies alone control over 200,000 acres of oil shale lands, none to date has engaged in commercial-scale development because they lack the technology.

This fact sheet explores undeveloped private shale resources.