Ikelic - Alliance Digital Repository

STATUS OF OIL SHALE PROJECTS (Underline denotes changes since June 1994)
COMMERCIAL PROJECTS (Continued)
In November 1986, Ramex announced that Greenway Corporation had become the controlling shareholder in the company.
On November 24, 1987, Ramex announced the completion of the Rock Springs pilot project. The formation was heated to ap
a high-BTU gas with little or no liquid condensate. The wells sustained 75 Mcf a day, for a
proximately 1200 degrees F creating
period of 3 months, then were shut down to evaluate the heaters and the metals used in the manufacturing of the heaters. The test
results indicated a 5 year life in a 10 foot section of the shale with a product gas of 800 BTU, or higher, per standard cubic foot.
Ramex also announced in November 1987 the start of a commercial production program in the devonian shale in the eastern states
of Kentucky and Tennessee. In April 1988, however, Ramex moved the project to Indiana. A total of 7 wells were drilled. Gas
tests resulted in ratings of 1,034 and 968 BTU. Two production volume tests showed 14,000 and 24,000 cubic feet per day.
In late July, 1988 a letter agreement was signed between Tri-Gas Technology, Inc., the licensee of the Ramex process in Indiana,
and J. M. Slaughter Oil Company of Ft. Worth, Texas to provide funding for drilling a minimum of 20 gas wells, using the Ramex
oil shale gasification process, on the leases near Henryville, Indiana. Arrangements were made with Midwest Natural Gas to hook
up the Ramex gas production to the Midwest Pipeline near Henryville.
As of May, 1989 Ramex had been unsuccessful in sustaining long-term burns. They therefore redesigned the burner and built a
much larger model (600,000 BTU per hour vs 40,000 BTU per hour) for installation at the Henryville site. In November, 1989
Ramex completed its field test of the Devonian Shales in Indiana. The test showed a gas analysis of 47 percent hydrogen,
30 percent methane and little or no sulfur. Ramex contracted with a major research firm to complete the design and material
selection of its commercial burners which they say are 40 to 50 percent more fuel efficient than most similar industrial units and
also to develop flow measurement equipment for the project. Ramex received a patent on its process on May 29, 1990.
In 1990, Ramex also began investigating potential applications in Israel.
Ramex contracted with the Institute of Gas Technology in 1990 for controlled testing of its in situ process because the company's
field tests of the process in wells in Indiana have been thwarted by ground water incursion problems. Questions that still need to
be answered before the Ramex process can be commercialized are:
How fast does the heat front move through the shale?
How far will the reaction go from the heat source and how much heat is necessary on an incremental basis to keep
the reaction zone moving outward from the source of heat?
What is the exact chemical composition of the gas that is produced from the process over a period of time and does
the composition change with varying amounts of heat and if so, what is the ideal amount of heat to produce the most
desirable chemical composition of gas?
Once these questions are answered, the will company be able to calculate the actual cost per unit of gas production.
In 1992 Ramex announced a company reorganization and said that new laboratory tests were being arranged to improve its technol
ogy.
On September 30, 1993, Ramex Synfuels International, Inc., as sponsor of a private placement of limited partnership interests in
Ramex Research Partners, Ltd. successfully closed an offering at the minimum amount intended to be sold of $110,000. Subse
quently, a contract to conduct Phase I laboratory was signed testing between Ramex and Southwest Research Institute of San An
tonio. Texas. These tests have been ongoing during 1994. with the final Phase I test to be conducted in December 1994. A final
report on all Phase I tests will be issued by SwRJ in January or February 1995.
Project Cost: Approximately $1 million for the pilot tests.
RIO BLANCO OIL SHALE PROJECT - Rio Blanco Oil Shale Company (wholly owned by Amoco Corporation) (S-190)
The proposed project is on federal Tract C-a in Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado. A bonus bid of $210.3 million was submitted to
acquire rights to the tract which was leased in March 1974. A 4-year modified in situ (MIS) demonstration program was completed
at the end of 1981. The program burned two successful retorts. The first retort was 30 feet by 30 feet by 166 feet high and
produced 1,907 barrels of shale oil. It burned between October and late December 1980. The second retort was 60 feet by 60 feet
by 400 feet high and produced 24,790 barrels while burning from June through most of December 1981. Open pit mining-surface
retorting development is still preferred, however, because of much greater resource recovery of 5 versus 2 billion barrels over the
life of the project. Rio Blanco, however, could not develop the tract efficiently in this manner without additional federal land for
disposal purposes and siting of processing facilities, so in August 1982, the company temporarily suspended operations on its
federal tract after receiving a 5 year lease suspension from the United States Department of Interior. In August 1987, the suspen
sion was renewed.
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SYNTHETIC FUELS REPORT, JANUARY 1995