Regulatory Challenges of Oil Shale Exploration and Development in Colorado

The state Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety has regulatory oversight of oil shale exploration and extraction activities in Colorado.  Three different operators, American Shale Oil Company, Chevron, and Shell, are working on five separate 160-acre Federal RD&D leases in western Colorado, and other companies are conducting research on private land.  The purpose of the leases is to provide sites for companies to evaluate their extraction technologies.  Although some oil might be produced during the RD&D activities, there will be no commercial production on the lease parcels.  Each company is evaluating a different extraction technology.  The complexity and diversity of the technologies make regulatory oversight of the activities interesting and challenging.