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"Almost all of this increase is due to assessments of new geographic areas and subsurface zones that had too little data for previous research and assessments," USGS said today.

The agency cautioned that the amount of recoverable oil is unknown, because there are "significant technological and environmental challenges" and no economic recovery methods currently available.

"For the first time in 20 years, we have an updated assessment of in-place oil shale in the Piceance Basin of Colorado," said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, a former Colorado senator, in a statement. "The USGS scientific report shows significant quantities of oil locked up in the shale rocks of the Piceance Basin. I believe it demonstrates the need for our continued research and development efforts."

The Piceance Basin is the focus of ongoing industry research and testing by companies including Shell Oil, which has long been experimenting with a method that involves driving electric heaters deep underground and heating the rock formations for years to separate the hydrocarbons.

Shell's Mahogany Project is on private land, but the Interior Department has also issued several research and development leases on public lands it administers. Additional shale deposits are also found in Utah and Wyoming.

Salazar, however, maintains that the Bush administration was pushing development too quickly amid unanswered questions about water usage and other environmental effects.

In February he halted additional research and development leasing for further study (E&ENews PM, Feb. 25). He has also expressed hesitation about commercial oil shale regulations that the Bush administration put in place just before leaving office, claiming in February that the prior administration "simply did not have the full information to allow them to make the decisions they were making." He is reviewing the regulations.

Several companies are forging ahead with efforts to develop the resource, despite the concerns of the Obama administration (Greenwire, March 30).

Many Republicans and other advocates of oil shale development say the massive size of the resource means it could help increase U.S. energy security. Environmentalists say the fuel's emissions would work against efforts to slow global warming, and are also fearful of how development would affect wildlife and water resources.

Reporter Katie Howell contributed.

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