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At the moment, oil shale industry is at great pains to rid itself of the suffocating mining ceiling, and of plans for fresh taxes. The industrialists view oil shale as profits – politicians and state officials, however, smell extra budget revenues.
Interest groups fight for sharp rise of oil shale mining in Estonia
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Thus, a high state official briefed Postimees that there is no point in keeping oil shale tucked away, underground. Just the opposite: it ought to be mined in biggest volumes possible, to be turned into lucrative oil and diesel fuel.
For oil shale men, the yearly need hovers at 24-30 million tonnes, starting 2016.
«Right now, we have oil plants only for processing 5 million tonnes of oil shale. However, there would be plants in building or to be launched for 4 more million tonnes,» commented Priit Rohumaa, chief executive of Viru Keemia Grupp (VKG).
According to him, it is difficult to evaluate how realistic the competitors’ plans are. However, adding up all known plans for oil production increase, he concludes that close to 15 million tonnes of oil shale a year are needed by the plants for fuel production.
«Having invested big, it needs to be covered by stable amounts of oil shale. Therefore, mining ceiling is first of all linked to electricity production perspectives, in my opinion,» said Mr Rohumaa.