Key Points:
If oil shale processing can be made energy-efficient and
operate within appropriate environmental levels then it may well be
another resource which Queensland can capitalise.
Recently, the Minister for Environment and Heritage Protection
and the Minister for Natural Resources and Mines announced that the
Queensland Government will allow the development of a commercial
oil shale industry in Queensland under strict environmental
conditions.
It was stated in the announcement that Queensland currently has
around 90% of Australia's known oil shale resources, which is
said to be equivalent to approximately 22 billion barrels of
oil.
From an oil security perspective it is a resource that is
difficult to ignore, but historically the proposals to develop oil
shale deposits in Queensland have suffered from demonstrating the
extraction technology is viable and environmental concerns.
