Great post on The Hill’s Congress Blog by API’s Emily Kennedy, bringing attention to another vast U.S. resource: oil shale.

This is oil derived from sedimentary rock that contains a solid material (kerogen) that converts to liquid oil when heated. We’ve got enormous deposits in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, with estimates that up to 800 billion barrels could be recoverable – almost three times Saudi Arabia’s proven oil reserves. Kennedy:

“The president is right: an all-of-the-above approach is the best path for securing America’s energy future. In oil shale, the United States has another vast energy resource that can’t be dismissed – one that would be best developed by industry and the marketplace, guided by clear policies and a stable regulatory regime.”

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has signed a law that would allow his state to file eminent domain proceedings against the federal government.

The goal: to gain control of state lands where energy development cannot occur because they are surrounded by protected federal lands.

Since the U.S. Constitution prohibits condemning federal lands, it's unlikely that Gov. Herbert will prevail in court, but his action is sending a message to Washington where energy-rich lands have been put off-limits by the federal government.

"When the donkey doesn't move," the governor said at a news conference, "you need to hit him across the head with a two-by-four just to get their attention." (The Wall Street Journal)

Energy development can generate well-paying jobs and provide economic opportunity. Pennsylvania, for... more »

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today announced the imposition of new regulatory hurdles that could slow or prohibit drilling for oil and natural gas on energy-rich federal lands.

In what has become increasingly familiar double-talk from this administration, Sec. Salazar spoke of the importance of domestic oil and natural gas, while making it more difficult to produce this oil and gas, put more Americans back to work and help restore our nation's economy.

Under the guise of offering certainty for investors, Sec. Salazar has taken steps to further delay and limit American energy resources for all Americans.

Since Salazar has taken his position, revenues from federal onshore oil and gas leasing in the five states that make up the Inter-Mountain West (Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wy... more »

Yesterday, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) suspended the sale of all 31 oil and natural gas drilling tracts in Utah that had been purchased earlier in the day during a regularly scheduled lease sale, after the bureau accepted last-minute protests about the sale from two environmental groups. BLM has put all the leases on hold to conduct an environmental assessment.

While we appreciate the need to address protests to proposed lease sales, the deviation from set procedures by accepting late protests does not promote confidence that the Obama administration is committed to an orderly and predictable leasing process that allows for development of energy resources that belong to the American people.

This apparent policy of delay--in the face of public sentiment that favors greater acce... more »