Dragon Shale has been carefully developing its partners, plans and investors. In yet another step forward, we are today announcing that we have become a Sustaining Member of the National Oil Shale Association (NOSA). To learn more about NOSA and view an excellent video on oil shale visit: http://oilshaleassoc.org/ .
Dragon Shale is a Utah based LLC that it working on responsible development of oil shale resources. These are vast resources of kerogen that can be turned into oil by heating. The US could have 3.7 trillion barrels of kerogen-based oil available. For a good overview of the oil shale (kerogen) industry, consider getting the eBook: Oil Shale: Treasure Trove of Pandora’s Box, by Ron Stites, Lee Yuan Ming and Matthew James.
These resources have remained untapped for several reasons. Among these are:
- The vast size of proposed projects (billions of dollars) have given regulators and investors pause
- Potential environmental issues with many of the proposed technologies
- Infrastructure constraints (electricity, water, pipelines, refineries and roads)
- Environmental, land use and esthetic issues – especially for extremely large projects
Dragon is a unique approach. It was one of the first oil shale companies to propose smaller projects, challenging the conventional wisdom. Beginning around 2013, Ron Stites of SALLC and O.J. Schneider of Ettanet began taking a new look at the oil shale industry. They puzzled over the lack of progress on this resource and began looking for new approaches. They discovered that it would be practical to launch small projects where logistics, markets and infrastructure matched with existing technologies. Instead of a “one size fits all” mega-project approach making a low-grade synthetic crude oil, SALLC and Ettanet showed that the right match of resource, technology and differentiated products could make a smaller project work. After many years of study and seeking partners, SALLC and Ettanet launched Dragon Shale, LLC, in 2016.
The key features of Dragon Shale are:
- Small Scale – first project 960 acres of private land ~ 7,500 barrels of total product per day
- Differentiated High Value Products – Sell ultra-low sulfur diesel feed and asphalt fractions with more differentiation into chemical products in the queue
- Develop in “Best” Places – only in the most accessible, highest yield areas
- Cooperate with other kerogen oil producers on infrastructure and technology
To learn more about Dragon Shale, LLC, visit http://www.dragonshale.com/ .
Ron Stites is the Founder and Principal at Stites & Associates, LLC, a group of technical professionals who work with clients to improve decision making in technology driven companies by applying good management judgment based on objective evidence and sound scientific thinking. For more information see: www.tek-dev.net or email us at [email protected] .
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