Unocal Corporation
In 1977, Superior Oil Company cancelled its Meeker shale oil plant project. Year later Ashland, Cleveland Cliffs and Sohio exited the Colony Shale Oil Project near Parachute, Colorado. Also, Shell exited the Colony project but continued with "in-situ" test. The United States oil shale industry collapsed when oil prices fell in the early 1980s. On 2 May 1982, known as "Black Sunday", Exxon cancelled the Colony project due to low oil-prices and increased expenses, laying off more than 2,000 workers. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 which among other things abolished the United States' Synthetic Liquid Fuels Program. The last oil shale retort in the United States, operated by Unocal Corporation, was closed in 1991.