California drought could leave Monterey shale high and dry

摘要

Shale development will have a tough fight for water rights given California's huge residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural demand. The Lower Monterey and Santos shales in California have an estimated 15 Bbbl of undeveloped, technically recoverable shale oil resources in the San Joaquin and Los Angeles basins. The shale play is at depths of 2,439 m to 4,268 m (8,000 ft to 14,000 ft), and thicknesses range from 305 m to 915 m (1,000 ft to 3,000 ft), according to Intek Inc.