Is California the Next Oil Boom State?
By: Big 2 News Staff
Updated: January 15, 2013
Could California be the next oil boom state?
Analysts say yes...but only if the industry can get the oil out of the ground without upsetting the state's powerful environmental lobby.
California's Monterey Shale, which runs from Los Angeles to San Francisco, is thought to hold over 400 billion barrels of oil, according to the USGS.
That's nearly half the conventional oil in all of Saudi Arabia.
But-the shale rock at the Monterey is not flat, making drilling for oil difficult.
It also doesn't respond well to the controversial practice known as fracking, injecting water, sand and chemicals into the ground under high pressure to crack the rock.
Still, the US Energy Information Agency estimates there are over 15 billion barrels of oil that can be recovered using today's technology.
If the Monterey is successful, analysts say it could create thousands of jobs and potentially solve the state's budget deficit.
Analysts say yes...but only if the industry can get the oil out of the ground without upsetting the state's powerful environmental lobby.
California's Monterey Shale, which runs from Los Angeles to San Francisco, is thought to hold over 400 billion barrels of oil, according to the USGS.
That's nearly half the conventional oil in all of Saudi Arabia.
But-the shale rock at the Monterey is not flat, making drilling for oil difficult.
It also doesn't respond well to the controversial practice known as fracking, injecting water, sand and chemicals into the ground under high pressure to crack the rock.
Still, the US Energy Information Agency estimates there are over 15 billion barrels of oil that can be recovered using today's technology.
If the Monterey is successful, analysts say it could create thousands of jobs and potentially solve the state's budget deficit.
