The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1916-03-15
GASOLINE FROM SHALE.
An Almost Inexhaustible Supply Can Be
Secured.

In view of the ever-increasing demand
for gasolene and the increase in price OF
crude oil, from which it is obtainable, il
is important to know that ar almost in
exhaustibe supply of oil may be obtained
from the shale of northwestern Colorado
northeastern Utah, and southwestern Wy
oming. This shale contains materials
which, when heated, may be converted
! into crude oil and ammonia. The high
cost of distilling oil from shale as COM
pared to the cost of producing from wells
has thus far prevented the development
/ in this country of such an industry and
may continue to prevent it for some
time, but sooner or later this great
source of supply will be utilized to sup
plement the decreasing production from
the regular oil fields.
The oil derived from the shale is sim
liar to that which is being produced from
wells in the United States at the rate
of more than 250,O00,00O barrels year.
When refined by ordinary methods the
shale oil yields an average of about 10
per cent gasolene, IS per cent Kerosene,
and large amount of paraflin. The
yield of gasolene from the shale may
probably be largely increased by the use
of refining methods especially designed
for that purpose. The gas, which is a
very good illuminating gas, will perhaps
be sufficient to furnish all the heat re-
qured to distill the crude oil from the
shale.
The ammonia is a most valuable by
product of the distillation and may be
utilized in the manufacture of CONNER
cial fertilizer or other nitrogen com
pounds, as the market demands. The
United States geological survey has ex-
amined large areas ofthe shale of Colo
RADIO, Utah, and Wyoming and has made
many distillation tests. Some beds will
shale that are several feet thick will
yield more than barrel of oil to the
ton of shale, and one bed six inches thick
will yield more than two barrels of crude
oil to the ton of shale. One ton of this
shale should therefore yield nearly ten
gallons of gssolene by the present COM
mercial methods of gasolene extraction,
and larger yields may be made possible |
by new methods.
Little attention has been paid to this
shale because the quantity of petroleum /
has been sufficient to satisfy all demands, /
but for more than so years the oil shsle I
of Scotland has been a very /
important one. In a recent year more 4
than 5000 men were employed in the in
iustry in that country. vet the average /
yield of oil per ton of shsle was much !
less than that which appears possible
rom the shale Of Colorado and Utah. II
5 estimated that in Colorado alone there
5 sufficient shale, in beds three feet or
more thick and richer than the shale be-
ny mined in Scotland. to yield twenty
billion barrels Of crude oil. from which
It least two billion barrels of gasolene
nay be extracted by ordinary refining
processes.
As was stated in the recent reply of
secretary Lane to a Senate resolution on
he subject Of gasolene: "The develop
nent of this enormous reserve simply
waits the time when the price Of gaso-
ene or the demand for other distillation
.roducts warrants the utilization Of this
ubstitute source. This may happen in
he future. At all events these shales
re likely to b. drawn upon long before
be exhaustion Of the petroleum felds."