Shale Oil

SACRAMENTO -- Tapping California's oil-rich Monterey shale using hydraulic fracturing could boost the state's economic activity by as much as 14.3% and create hundreds of thousands of jobs, according to a new USC study. As detailed in Money & Co. blog , the development of the 1,750-square-mile formation in Central California could have a transformative effect on the Golden State's economy, with the state potentially reaping oil-related tax revenue of $4.5 billion in 2015 and $24.6 billion by 2020.

General Electric Co. has agreed to acquire Lufkin Industries Inc. for more than $3 billion as the mega-firm looks to grow its expanding oil and gas business. The $88.50-a-share offer from GE represents a 38.4% premium over Lufkin's Friday $63.93 closing price. The deal for Lufkin, which employs 4,500 people in more than 40 countries, expands GE's artificial-lift capabilities to a larger variety of well types. GE Oil & Gas President Daniel C. Heintzelman said the acquisition beefs up his company's offerings in a segment that “is at the heart of critical changes” that are transforming the oil and gas industry, allowing producers to maximize the potential of wells.

California's Monterey shale, which holds an estimated 15 billion barrels of oil, has been touted as crucial to the state's energy future and a boon to its economy. A study released Thursday tries to quantify the potential economic benefits. The study by USC and the Communications Institute, a Los Angeles think tank, estimates that development of the 1,750-square-mile formation in central California could generate half a million new jobs by 2015 and 2.8 million by 2020. Tapping the Monterey shale, which  holds an estimated two-thirds of the country's shale oil reserves, would probably require some combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, a practice opposed by many environmentalists worried about possible damage to land and water.

TAFT, Calif. - This two-stoplight town was built on petroleum, and residents here never miss a chance to pay tribute. A 38-foot monument to wildcatters stands downtown; locals brag it's the tallest bronze sculpture west of the Mississippi. Every five years, the city throws an "Oildorado" festival. There's even a beauty pageant in which young women dubbed "the maids of petroleum" vie to be crowned queen. It's all an homage to the bustling days when Taft boasted two giant oil fields and Standard Oil Co. of California was headquartered there.

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.

The $180-million venture is jointly operated by Chevron Shale Oil and Conoco Shale. Chevron said that the test plant, built in 1983, successfully produced shale oil but that the product wouldn't be commercially feasible until crude oil cost $65 a barrel, which isn't expected to happen until the year 2000. When Chevron undertook the project, oil was expected to hit that price in 1988.

In a last gasp for Jimmy Carter-era synthetic fuel programs, Unocal Corp. said Tuesday that it will suspend production at its $650-million shale oil project in Parachute Creek, Colo., citing continued losses. Closure of the 13-year-old project, the only remaining commercial shale oil operation in the country, spells the apparent end of major efforts to squeeze oil from rocks as a way to displace imported crude.

Unocal disclosed Monday that it took a partial write-down of its controversial shale oil project in Colorado last year, which in turn contributed to a 54% year-to-year decline in the Los Angeles-based oil company's 1985 earnings and a $134.7-million loss for the fourth quarter. Full-year earnings, which fell to $325.1 million from $700.4 million in 1984, also were hurt by expenses incurred during Unocal's successful takeover fight with Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens Jr.

SACRAMENTO -- State lawmakers are voicing doubts that the Brown administration's proposal to regulate hydraulic fracturing is tough enough to protect public health and safety -- and they're questioning whether the state's oil regulators can be trusted to enforce it. As detailed in Wednesday's Los Angeles Times , state senators convened a joint legislative hearing to review draft regulations, which represent California's first attempt to govern...

Portland, with a unanimous City Council vote, became the fourth city Wednesday to require private employers offer workers sick leave. Hailed by supporters as a move to provide workers with protection from being fired if they call in sick, the policy affects businesses who employ six or more workers. The municipal vote comes a day before a similar measure is set to go before City Council members in Philadelphia. "Policies like paid sick days are about more than keeping people healthy -- they're about keeping money in the pockets of working families so they can cover the basics," said Ellen Bravo, executive director of Family Values (at)

SACRAMENTO -- Tapping California's oil-rich Monterey shale using hydraulic fracturing could boost the state's economic activity by as much as 14.3% and create hundreds of thousands of jobs, according to a new USC study. As detailed in Money & Co. blog , the development of the 1,750-square-mile formation in Central California could have a transformative effect on the Golden State's economy, with the state potentially reaping oil-related tax revenue of $4.5 billion in 2015 and $24.6 billion by 2020.

Portland, with a unanimous City Council vote, became the fourth city Wednesday to require private employers offer workers sick leave. Hailed by supporters as a move to provide workers with protection from being fired if they call in sick, the policy affects businesses who employ six or more workers. The municipal vote comes a day before a similar measure is set to go before City Council members in Philadelphia. "Policies like paid sick days are about more than keeping people healthy -- they're about keeping money in the pockets of working families so they can cover the basics," said Ellen Bravo, executive director of Family Values (at)

California's Monterey shale, which holds an estimated 15 billion barrels of oil, has been touted as crucial to the state's energy future and a boon to its economy. A study released Thursday tries to quantify the potential economic benefits. The study by USC and the Communications Institute, a Los Angeles think tank, estimates that development of the 1,750-square-mile formation in central California could generate half a million new jobs by 2015 and 2.8 million by 2020. Tapping the Monterey shale, which  holds an estimated two-thirds of the country's shale oil reserves, would probably require some combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, a practice opposed by many environmentalists worried about possible damage to land and water.

SACRAMENTO -- State lawmakers are voicing doubts that the Brown administration's proposal to regulate hydraulic fracturing is tough enough to protect public health and safety -- and they're questioning whether the state's oil regulators can be trusted to enforce it. As detailed in Wednesday's Los Angeles Times , state senators convened a joint legislative hearing to review draft regulations, which represent California's first attempt to govern...

Exxon Mobil Corp.andOccidental Petroleum Corp.said second-quarter earnings took a hit from lower oil and natural gas prices, a pattern that analysts expect to be repeated throughout the energy industry. But in an economy that is struggling to gain momentum, the oil business is still posting numbers that many others would love to have. Exxon Mobil, in fact, reported record profits, but it needed the help of asset sales to do it. Analysts said the stage for this week's earnings reports was set when oil declined nearly 9% and natural gas plunged 46% during the quarter compared with year-earlier prices.

Tucked into a massive energy bill that would open the outer continental shelf to oil drilling are provisions that would slash future royalties owed to the federal government by companies prospecting in Rocky Mountain oil shale deposits. Sponsored by Rep. Richard W. Pombo (R-Tracy) and passed by the House earlier this year, the bill would amend an existing requirement that the federal government receive a "fair return" from oil companies that hold oil shale leases on public lands.

General Electric Co. has agreed to acquire Lufkin Industries Inc. for more than $3 billion as the mega-firm looks to grow its expanding oil and gas business. The $88.50-a-share offer from GE represents a 38.4% premium over Lufkin's Friday $63.93 closing price. The deal for Lufkin, which employs 4,500 people in more than 40 countries, expands GE's artificial-lift capabilities to a larger variety of well types. GE Oil & Gas President Daniel C. Heintzelman said the acquisition beefs up his company's offerings in a segment that “is at the heart of critical changes” that are transforming the oil and gas industry, allowing producers to maximize the potential of wells.

Re "GOP Offers Consumer Fuel-Relief Package," April 28 Memo to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), the rest of Congress and President Bush: Keep the $100 you're planning to give me to "ease the pain" of buying my next two tankfuls of gas. Spend the money instead on developing sustainable energy sources such as solar, geothermal, ocean thermal electrical conversion, shale oil and maybe even nuclear fusion. And while you're at it, take the billions of dollars and tremendous technical expertise being expended to send humans to Mars and use it instead to push these energy development efforts, Manhattan Project-style, to levels that might actually lead to some real breakthroughs.

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.

Re "GOP Offers Consumer Fuel-Relief Package," April 28 Memo to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), the rest of Congress and President Bush: Keep the $100 you're planning to give me to "ease the pain" of buying my next two tankfuls of gas. Spend the money instead on developing sustainable energy sources such as solar, geothermal, ocean thermal electrical conversion, shale oil and maybe even nuclear fusion. And while you're at it, take the billions of dollars and tremendous technical expertise being expended to send humans to Mars and use it instead to push these energy development efforts, Manhattan Project-style, to levels that might actually lead to some real breakthroughs.