Plans To Award Additional Financial Assistance to the Union Oil Company Oil Shale Program
RCED-84-187: Published: Jul 23, 1984. Publicly Released: Jul 23, 1984.
Additional Materials:
- Full Report:
Contact:
In response to a congressional request, GAO commented on whether the U.S. Synthetic Fuels Corporation's plans to award up to $2.7 billion in assistance to Union Oil Company for phase II of an oil shale program were consistent with the Corporation's programmatic goals. GAO also reviewed whether the Corporation's awarding of financial assistance to the company for phase II was proper, since: (1) phase I had already received $400 million in assistance from the Department of Energy; and (2) the company had not been successful in operating phase I even though construction was completed in August 1983.
GAO found that, in 1982, the Corporation realized that it could not meet the Energy Security Act's production goals; therefore, it decided to trade off some production to concentrate on developing a diversity of projects using various synthetic fuels technologies. The Corporation's current goal is to spend $4.94 billion on oil shale projects. However, the Corporation's ability to follow through with these plans is in question. Price guarantees differed between the two phases because construction costs were higher for the first phase and the Corporation assumed that energy prices would increase. Neither GAO nor the Corporation identified any phase II costs specifically targeted to supplement phase I operations. GAO found that the company will take 16 years from the start of construction of phase I to experience a positive cumulative after-tax cash flow. The technology planned to be used in phase II is the same as that used in phase I; however, phase II adds a component which processes the waste product to extract additional energy. GAO found that the company may achieve the expected savings if a number of technical factors are resolved and if natural gas prices increase. Finally, additional study will be needed to determine the transferability of the technology used. The Corporation and company officials have agreed that phase II will not proceed until phase I has operated at 50 percent of design capacity and the phase II technology has been tested.
Jan 31, 2018
-
Small Business Research Programs:
Agencies Need to Take Steps to Assess Progress Toward Commercializing TechnologiesGAO-18-207: Published: Jan 31, 2018. Publicly Released: Jan 31, 2018.
Jan 4, 2018
-
Small Business Contracting:
SBA Efforts May Clarify the Assignment of Industry Codes, and Most Code Appeals Were DismissedGAO-18-76: Published: Dec 5, 2017. Publicly Released: Jan 4, 2018.
Dec 19, 2017
-
Drug Industry:
Profits, Research and Development Spending, and Merger and Acquisition DealsGAO-18-40: Published: Nov 17, 2017. Publicly Released: Dec 19, 2017.
Oct 25, 2017
-
Small Business Contracting:
Actions Needed to Demonstrate Compliance with Requirements for Small Business AdvocatesGAO-18-191T: Published: Oct 25, 2017. Publicly Released: Oct 25, 2017.
Sep 25, 2017
-
Small Business Contracting:
Actions Needed to Demonstrate and Better Review Compliance with Select Requirements for Small Business AdvocatesGAO-17-675: Published: Aug 25, 2017. Publicly Released: Sep 25, 2017.
Jun 30, 2017
-
Small Business Administration:
Government Contracting and Business Development Processes and Rule-Making ActivitiesGAO-17-573: Published: Jun 30, 2017. Publicly Released: Jun 30, 2017.
Jun 29, 2017
-
Puerto Rico:
Información sobre Tendencias y Retos de Pequeñas Empresas en el Ámbito de Contratación FederalGAO-17-705: Published: Jun 29, 2017. Publicly Released: Jun 29, 2017. -
Puerto Rico:
Information on Trends and Challenges to Small Business Federal ContractingGAO-17-550: Published: Jun 29, 2017. Publicly Released: Jun 29, 2017.
Jun 15, 2017
-
Memory Supplements:
Clarifying FDA and FTC Roles Could Strengthen Oversight and Enhance Consumer AwarenessGAO-17-416: Published: May 16, 2017. Publicly Released: Jun 15, 2017.
May 31, 2017
-
Small Business Research Programs:
Most Agencies Met Spending Requirements, but DOD and EPA Need to Improve Data ReportingGAO-17-453: Published: May 31, 2017. Publicly Released: May 31, 2017.
Looking for more? Browse all our products here