Over five years here, Shell Oil conducted a series of secretive experiments that have the potential to blow open the status quo of North American oil production, unlocking the vast reserves of oil shale that underlie Colorado's Western Slope. But the biggest impact may be on water. Rand estimates that it would take three barrels of water to produce one barrel of shale oil. Although that's significantly less than the amount of water needed to produce a barrel of ethanol, the water would come from the relatively scarce resources of the semi-arid Western Slope, some of which also feeds the Front Range. As Shell and other companies snap up conditional water rights in the region, the Front Range Water Users Council — a group of water boards that serves the state's major cities — formally requested an extension of the leasing regulation moratorium, believing, according to a letter to Congress, that the "development of oil shale in Colorado could significantly affect the Council's ability to serve existing customers and the future growth projected for the Front Range of Colorado." 

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