2nd Round of Oil Shale RD&D Leasing

The BLM WRFO has begun the process of evaluating nominations for the second round of oil shale research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) leasing. Each RD&D lease is a 160 acre tract with an associated preference lease area of up to 480 contiguous acres. The preference lease areas are reserved for conversion to a commercial lease at a future time after additional BLM review.

Both ExxonMobil Exploration Company and Natural Soda Holdings, Inc., have submitted plans of operations for consideration. These two proposals are for adjacent areas and were analyzed in one environmental assessment (EA). Each proposal has its own Decision Record.

Final Environmental Assessment

To view the final Environmental Assessment, please click here.

To view the Finding of No Significant Impact, please click here.

To view the Decision Record for ExxonMobil's proposal, please click here.

To view the Decision Record for Natural Soda's proposal,please click here.

Preliminary Environmental Assessment

To view the preliminary environmental assessment, please click here.

Plans of Operations & Map of the Lease Areas

To view the Plan of Operation submitted by ExxonMobil Exploration Company, please click here.

To view the Plan of Operation submitted by Natural Soda Holdings, Inc., please click here.

To view a map of all of the RD&D lease areas and associated preference acreages (for both round one and round two), please click here.

Example Lease Forms

First Round Lease Form

Second Round Lease Form