Word: oils
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...most common process, coal is heated under great pressure to 900° F. As the coal decomposes, it releases oil and gas. Another extraction method, which adds hydrogen to coal that is heated under pressure, will be tested at a small, experimental plant operated by several oil companies in Catlettsburg, Ky. It should be able to convert 600 tons of coal into 1,800 bbl. of oil a day. At a DOE-funded plant in Fort Lewis, Wash., Gulf Oil since 1974 has been testing yet another process called "solvent refined coal," which uses chemicals to remove impurities from...
...east Texas, and in many coal seams all over the country. Because it is costly, the development of unconventional gas had been blocked until natural gas price controls were lifted last year. Now Carter anticipates production to reach the equivalent of 500,000 to 1 million bbl. of oil...
Though the U.S. has some oil-saturated tar sands, they are not large or accessible enough to justify expensive exploitation by the Government. But some 76 billion bbl. in oil, about three times the nation's proven reserves of conventional crude, are known to be recoverable from the shale rock concentrated in western Colorado and stretching into Utah and Wyoming. No plants are in operation at present, but at least five companies are running experimental digs in the area. To produce a barrel of oil, about 1½ tons of rock must be mined and heated...
Because of inflation and increasing costs of environmental controls, price predictions for building synfuel plants have been rising steadily. The new range is from $1 billion to $3 billion for an oil shale or coal liquefaction plant that would produce 50,000 to 100,000 bbl. a day. A coal gasification plant would run some $1.5 billion. Ever climbing costs have kept estimated prices of producing synfuels persistently dancing ahead of world crude prices. In 1973, when oil was $3.50 a bbl., oil from shale was figured at $4.50. Just before OPEC'S latest price rise, when crude...
...major problem is not financial but environmental. Extracting oil from shale is thought to be the greatest pollution threat. Thus, the toughest environmental battles will probably rage in Colorado and other shale-rich Western states, which have generally strict pollution-control laws. There will also be local resistance to coal gasification and liquefaction plants because they pollute the air with fumes from burning and lead to a noisy, dust-spewing increase in rail traffic to bring in the coal. On the other side, labor unions and various local groups will be eager to attract synfuel plants-particularly in Appalachia-because...