New Britain herald., 1927-08-12
OIL SHALE Offers
GREATER SUPPLY
Possible to Acquire Much From
Rocks

Denver, Colo. Aug. IL Up - Oil
shale rising In rocky ranges in
western Colorado and stretching
= north and westward into Wyoming
and Utah, offers man a mammoth
oil supply when he has exhausted
the natural oil fields of the world.
Exploitation Of the sourse, fed
erM and private experts are con-
WINGED, awaits only the waning of
the nations oil supply to point
where some new method OF oil de-
rivation Is necessary. and the devel-
cpment Of a commercially feasible
method Of converting into oil the
hydrogen and carbon atoms with
which the shale teens.
So sure are those concerned with
the future oil supply that the fields
Of shale will yield it, that the
United States government already
has established an experimental
plant at Rulison, Colo, for CONVEX
sion Of shale into oil and has set
aside in the region a naval shale
reserve, while private companies
have obtained rights to almost all
the ranges not embraced in govern
ment reserves.
In the immediate area Of western
Colorado are some 1000 square
miles known to contain oil shale-
the heart Of the largest shale de-
posts in the world. Government
ana private students of the field es-
innate that 1t will yield barrel to
a barrel and half of crude oil
from each ton Of shale treated.
Victor c. Anderson, former presi-
dent Of the Colorado School of
Mines places the productive value
OF the fields at between so and 60
billion gallons Of oil-enough to
last the United States for CEN
fury at the present annual rate OF
consumption, which is $50 to 500
million barrels.
The deposits are most extensive
in the vicinity of Grand Junction.
DeBeque and Palisades. Some of
the shale mountains rise to 5000
feet. The oil strata range from a
lew 1llSuSS " SCfCIdf I0St III tIlSA-
ress, and in color from light tan to
dark mahogany.
The shales do not contain OIL
merely the elements Necessary to
oil. The oil Is manufactured from
the rocks. Patents for hundreds OF
production processes have been
granted, most of them to Colora- |
doans, and several small plants are
now in operation seeking to prove
economic feasibility of the process. |
A similar conversion of shale to oil |
is practiced in Scotland. but it is |
not deemed practical for handling |
the Colorado shale. Some authori-
ties hold that oil can be produced |
from the shale, when need arises, !!
at commercial cost of 81 barrel. |
The shale mountains, exploited |
for oil, may also yield by-product
Of fertilizer. Farmers near DeBe- |
que say they have picked shale !
rocks off their fields, burned them,
and found that on the next year the |
srain grows from six inches to two
feet taller on the spots where the
black ash of the rocks was left,
and that it also produces a heavier
yield.
Operators have found in the treat
ment OF shale a process for indus
trial power. When heat is applied
within an alright drum to the
shale for the manufacture of oil,
certain fixed gases are obtained.
These have both heating and light
ing properties, and have been piped
off and led beneath the retorts to
form tn fuel by which the flames
are maintained for heating the re-
torts and keeping them in opera
ton. The gases have also been
piped to power plants to furnish
power for operations of trans and
camp machinery.