WASHINGTON, Feb 25 - A Bush administration plan for demonstration oil shale leases will be scrapped because the proposal is flawed and royalties to the government are too low, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said on Wednesday.
"If oil shale technology proves to be viable on a commercial scale, taxpayers should get a fair rate of return from their resource," he told reporters on a teleconference.
Salazar also took issue with the size of the oil shale leases offered in January, which covered areas four times larger than six parcels currently leased for research.
Under Salazar, the department has been reversing moves made late in the Bush administration.
The department has canceled energy leases near national parks in Utah, and also has delayed a Bush proposal expanding offshore drilling until more input can be gathered.
The public will be able to comment on the research oil shale leasing issue for 90 days starting Friday. After closing the comment period, the department will offer a second round of research leases in Colorado and Utah "based on sound policy and public input," Salazar said.
Oil shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock containing organic matter from which oil may be produced. Environmentalists have opposed oil shale development because it consumes large amounts of water and power, and releases more greenhouse gases than traditional fuels.
"This is a huge step forward in protecting America's western lands from oil shale development, which is nothing more than a dirty, expensive pipedream," Bobby McEnaney, Lands Advocate for Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement.
The Bush administration supported oil shale production and in November released final regulations creating a commercial oil shale program. Salazar called that decision "premature."
"We are still evaluating our options on the commercial regulations that the previous administration finalized for commercial oil shale development," Salazar said.
Commercial oil shale production is not yet technologically viable. Salazar could not say when oil shale development would come on line, noting that the Bush administration said it would not be before 2016.
The United States holds more than half the world's oil shale resources. The largest known deposits are in the Green River formation in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, an area of 16,000 square miles. (10.2 million acres/4.1 million hectares)
"If oil shale technology proves to be viable on a commercial scale, taxpayers should get a fair rate of return from their resource," he told reporters on a teleconference.
Salazar also took issue with the size of the oil shale leases offered in January, which covered areas four times larger than six parcels currently leased for research.
Under Salazar, the department has been reversing moves made late in the Bush administration.
The department has canceled energy leases near national parks in Utah, and also has delayed a Bush proposal expanding offshore drilling until more input can be gathered.
The public will be able to comment on the research oil shale leasing issue for 90 days starting Friday. After closing the comment period, the department will offer a second round of research leases in Colorado and Utah "based on sound policy and public input," Salazar said.
Oil shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock containing organic matter from which oil may be produced. Environmentalists have opposed oil shale development because it consumes large amounts of water and power, and releases more greenhouse gases than traditional fuels.
"This is a huge step forward in protecting America's western lands from oil shale development, which is nothing more than a dirty, expensive pipedream," Bobby McEnaney, Lands Advocate for Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement.
The Bush administration supported oil shale production and in November released final regulations creating a commercial oil shale program. Salazar called that decision "premature."
"We are still evaluating our options on the commercial regulations that the previous administration finalized for commercial oil shale development," Salazar said.
Commercial oil shale production is not yet technologically viable. Salazar could not say when oil shale development would come on line, noting that the Bush administration said it would not be before 2016.
The United States holds more than half the world's oil shale resources. The largest known deposits are in the Green River formation in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, an area of 16,000 square miles. (10.2 million acres/4.1 million hectares)
