Billions of Barrels of Oil in Shale of Naval Oil Reserves in Colorado.
-A comprehensive study of the oil shale beds cropping out in Naval Oil Shale Reserves 1 and 3, Garfield County, Colorado, reveals a vast potential reserve of oil larger than hitherto believed present, Director W. E. Wrather of the U. S. Geological Survey announced recently.
The study, made by the Geological Survey in cooperation with the Department of the Navy, Office of Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves, shows the geology of an area northwest of Rifle, Colo., covering approximately 175 square miles, of which about 85 square miles is underlain by oil shales ranging from 700 to 1,200 feet thick, averaging 10 to 15 gallons oil yield per ton, and having a total potential yield of about 40 billion barrels of oil. A thinner rich unit within the same oil shale sequence ranges from 70 to 135 feet in thickness, yields an average of 25 to 30 gallons of oil per ton, and has a total potential yield of about 10 billion barrels of oil. Approximately one-half of the shale oil resources considered in the report lies in the Naval Reserves. The area covered by the map is only a small part of the total area underlain by the oil shales of the Green River formation which is widespread in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming.