GOLDEN, Colo., Oct. 8, 2014 – The state of U.S. and global oil shale development will be the topic at the opening sessions of the 34th Oil Shale Symposium at Colorado School of Mines on Oct. 13.
Jeremy Boak, director of the Center for Oil Shale Technology and Research at Mines, and David Argyle of Global Oil Shale Holdings, will introduce the opening speakers as the session kicks off at 1 p.m. at the Cecil H. and Ida Green Center, 924 16th St., Golden, Colo.
Panelists representing the National Oil Shale Association, the U. S. Bureau of Land Management, American Shale Oil, Red Leaf Resources, Inc., Enefit American Oil, and Viru Keemia Grupp will join the chairs to discuss the current status and future of oil shale development during the opening plenary sessions.
About 200 delegates from 11 countries and 15 states in the U.S. are expected to attend the Oct. 13-15 event featuring sessions on science, engineering, environmental, socioeconomic and policy issues relating to potential production of oil from oil shale.
Following the Symposium, there will be a field trip to oil shale sites and facilities in the Piceance and Uinta Basins of Colorado and Utah.
Oil shale is a generally fine-grained sedimentary rock rich in solid, insoluble organic material (kerogen) that has not been buried deeply enough to generate oil and gas. Oil and gas can be produced from the rock by heating in an oxygen free environment.
The rock differs from shale-rich formations which produce naturally formed oil when hydraulically fractured, such as the Bakken Formation of North Dakota.
Shale oil is currently produced from oil shale in Estonia, China and Brazil. Hundreds of billions of gallons of oil could potentially be produced from oil shale in the American West, and elsewhere around the world.
For more information, see the symposium website.
Contact:
Karen Gilbert, Director of Public Relations, Colorado School of Mines / 303-273-3541 / kgilbert@mines.edu
Kathleen Morton, Communications Coordinator, Colorado School of Mines / 303-273-3088 / kmorton@mines.edu