| Type | Private, subsidiary of Eesti Energia |
|---|---|
| Industry | Oil shale industry |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Headquarters | Vernal, Utah, United States |
| Key people | Rikki Hrenko (CEO) |
| Parent | Eesti Energia |
| Website | www.enefit.com/americanoil |
Enefit American Oil (former name: Oil Shale Exploration Company - OSEC) is a Utah based oil shale exploration and development company. It has been involved in the development of oil shale since 2005.[1] Since 2011, it is a subsidiary of Eesti Energia.
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OSEC was formed as a limited liability company by following companies:
In March 2011, it was announced that Estonian energy company Eesti Energia will acquire 100% of OSEC's shares.[5] On 15 March 2011 the transaction was approved by Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.[6][7]
Enefit American Oil owns or leases more than 30,000 acres (120 km2) of oil shale property in the Green River Basin in Utah, containing more than 3–4 billion barrels (480×106–640×106 m3) of shale oil.[3] It also lease from the United States Bureau of Land Management the abandoned White River Oil Shale Mine 45 miles (72 km) southeast of Vernal, Utah. The White River Mine was developed by the White River Shale Corporation in the early 1980s. In 1986, after termination of operations, the mine and surface facilities were turned over to the Bureau of Land Management.[8] Enefit American Oil intends to reopen the mine to supply oil shale for testing, development, and operation of a surface-based 50,000 barrels per day (7,900 m3/d) RD&D oil shale retort facility.[2]
Originally OSEC planned to use the Alberta Taciuk Process (ATP). To use the ATP retort technology, OSEC entered into a license agreement with AECOM, then owner of the ATP proprietary information.[8][2] However, on 9 June 2008, OSEC announced it had signed an agreement with Petrobras and Mitsui according to which Petrobras agreed to undertake a technical, economic and environmental commercial feasibility study of Petrosix shale oil extraction technology for oil shale owned or leased by OSEC in Utah.[3] Few results of the study were disclosed. After acquiring 100% of OSEC shares in March 2011, Eesti Energia announced it would conduct a new commercial study using its Enefit Process.