Shell breaks ground on oil shale work on US land

[March 03, 2012]  GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) -- Shell Oil Co. has broken ground on its first project on land leased from the federal government for oil shale research.

Carolyn Tucker of Shell said Thursday that the company continues to make "significant progress" on its oil shale project, which until now has occurred only on Shell land.

The Daily Sentinel reports (http://bit.ly/xFbleJ) Shell is preparing to do a test to address the federal government's goal of developing oil shale while also extracting, or at least protecting, commercially valuable deposits of nahcolite in the same formations.

Shell has three federal leases in Colorado's Rio Blanco County for research on turning oil shale into oil.

Chevron Corp. also has an oil shale research lease in Colorado but has said it's giving it up to focus on other priorities.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.