USA AND OILSHALEThe process of extracting "black gold" from rock below the ground is not easy and not as cheap as more conventional methods of oil extraction, but interest in such shale deposits is mounting.
President George W. Bush set a goal in his State of the Union speech earlier this year of reducing US imports of Middle East oil by 75 percent by 2025, and to some industry analysts western oil shale deposits could help achieve this goal.
Analysts estimate there are the equivalent of some 1.2 trillion barrels of oil waiting to be plucked from the western states' rich oil shale deposits.
At current demand levels, analysts say that is enough oil to satisfy the hunger of the world's largest oil consuming nation for the next 100 years.
However, in contrast to "conventional" oil deposits, oil shale cannot be easily extracted, especially at such low prices as oil is extracted from the deserts of the Middle East.
In order to extract oil shale, the underground rock must first be heated to extremely high temperatures in order to separate the precious hydrocarbons from the shale and then be pumped to the surface for processing.