[UPI] Leah Krauss - An Israeli process for producing energy from oil shale will cut its oil imports by one-third, and will serve as a guide for other countries with oil shale deposits, according to the Hom Tov company, which presented its oil shale processing method on Tuesday outside Haifa. "Israel is the most advanced in the world in the effort to create energy from oil shale," said Moshe Shahal, a Hom Tov legal representative and a former Israeli energy minister. Shahal estimated that the company's Negev Desert facility would begin full-scale production in three to four years. It would cost about $17 to produce a barrel of synthetic oil at the Hom Tov facility, Shahal said. Israel has 15 billion tons of oil shale reserves. Jordan has about 25 billion tons, and the oil shale is of higher quality. The U.S. also has a giant reserve, mostly in Colorado.
2006-11-10 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive