Red Lodge Clearinghouse

In comments to the Bureau of Land Management yesterday, Ritter says a draft plan should be scaled back because too much is unknown about the environmental effects of future shale development.

"Because proven development technologies do not yet exist, the BLM cannot reliably analyze likely effects on water resources or air quality, impacts on local communities, energy requirements, or impacts on wildlife resources, and this information is critical to making sound land-allocation decisions in compliance with the law," he wrote.

BLM's draft programmatic environmental impact statement (EIS) envisions making a total of almost 2 million acres available across Colorado, Utah and Wyoming for commercial leasing.

However, actual commercial leasing itself is likely several years away. BLM is currently working on proposed leasing regulations it hopes to issue this year, but several more steps -- including final rules -- and layers of analysis would have to follow before leases are sold.

Last year, Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) attached a one-year moratorium to the omnibus federal spending bill that prohibits BLM from issuing any final regulations for commercial-scale leasing during fiscal 2008.

Ritter says the state is committed to working with federal officials and industry on a "thoughtful" approach to shale and warns against a "rush to premature leasing and regulatory decisions." His comments cite concern that shale operations would consume large amounts of water and thereby affect tourism, farming and other energy sectors on Colorado's Western Slope, Front Range and Eastern Plains.

Major energy legislation enacted in 2005 requires BLM to move ahead with oil shale leasing. Roughly a year ago, it issued six research, development and demonstration leases, five of which are in Colorado. Companies participating include oil majors Shell Oil Co. and Chevron Corp. Ritter, in his comments, says research and development efforts should continue while leaving open the possibility of subsequent expansion to commercial development.

Shell, using private lands in Colorado, has for years been testing an "in situ" process for extracting shale oil, which consists of hydrocarbons bound up in rock formations. The company's process involves inserting heating rods deep underground to heat the shale for several years until it reaches 650-700 degrees Fahrenheit in order to separate the oil.

But the company has not yet made a decision on commercial production.

Earlier efforts to develop oil shale fell apart 25 years ago. In 1982, Exxon closed its Colony II project in Colorado, taking large numbers of jobs with it, as oil prices fell sharply after spiking in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

However, oil shale is again attracting attention amid high oil prices and efforts to enhance U.S. energy security. Oil shale offers a potentially huge -- if hard to extract -- source of energy. BLM's draft environmental impact statement says that 16 billion barrels worth of oil could be present in the 359,798 acres it envisions making available for commercial leasing in Colorado.

The comment period on the EIS was scheduled to close yesterday, but BLM extended it for 30 days. Any actual development would be subject to further National Environmental Policy Act review, the agency noted.

Click here to read the comments.