The Strategic Importance of the United States' Unconventional Oil Reserves

Why do we continue to import oil from hostile countries and drill for oil in deep ocean environments when the United States Rocky Mountains currently have the largest hydrocarbon reserves on the planet? Are politicians gaming the population with the fear of dirty oil production sites and land based catastrophes that have yet to happen? Would politicians rather import 12 million barrels of crude oil a day from all over the world than to use oil in our own country (EIA)? It is hard to imagine the United States being a totally self-sufficient country when discussing energy consumption. Imagine if not only the United States were completely independent from foreign oil, but that we also had enough surplus oil to export to other countries and satisfy global hydrocarbon demands. Now imagine every American citizen receives a monthly hydrocarbon compensation of several thousand dollars in oil revenue sharing. While this may sound like a pipe-dream, it is entirely feasible – although not probable. The United States currently has the largest oil shale reserves on the planet. The recoverable amount of unconventional oil is estimated anywhere from 1.5 – 2.8 trillion barrels of oil (Utah Heavy Oil Program, 35). That's a lot of oil. In perspective, the top seven countries of proven conventional oil reserves; Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Venezuela and United Arab Emirates, have an oil reserve of slightly less than 1 trillion barrels of oil combined (CIA Factbook). Hydrocarbons make up 85% of the United States energy consumption. The United States energy consumption is currently around 100 quadrillion British Thermal Units (BTU) per year.

Fig. 1 – Energy Demand Projections – US Department of Energy

Hydrocarbon extraction from shale, tar sands, heavy oil deposits, and other non-traditional deposits are currently in their adolescence. However, with proper funding and oversight it is entirely possible to extract these resources with minimal impact to the environment and at current market rates per barrel.

A conventional hydrocarbon is one that is tapped and piped up from a liquid reserve without heating or diluting. An unconventional hydrocarbon is anything that requires more than tapping and funneling the reserves out. More than 65% of the world's oil falls into the unconventional category and the majority of this oil is in the United States (Utah Heavy Oil Program, 32). Oil shale is the younger form of crude oil in the current state of carbonate rock. Time and pressure have not yet transformed the sediments of the carbonate rock to crude oil – but that does not mean there are not hydrocarbons available. The carbonate rocks in the Green River Formation of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming are composed of hydrocarbon material called Kerogen. Kerogen can be converted into quality jet fuel or diesel fuel. Oil shale richness