Chevron, Los Alamos to Study Shale Oil

Chevron Corp. wants to take another crack at unlocking shale oil from difficult rock formations in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.

With high oil prices and the instability of overseas supplies making such endeavors more attractive, Chevron, in partnership with Los Alamos National Laboratory, said it would attempt to determine how to economically extract oil from shale. Chevron abandoned research on shale oil 30 years ago.

Research and development alliances aren't unusual in the energy business, but Don Paul, Chevron's chief technology officer, said this one would enable the oil giant to tap an estimated 1 trillion barrels of oil -- four times the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia -- locked in U.S. shale deposits.