It takes between one to four barrels of water to produce a single barrel of oil from oil shale, quite reasonable compare to 1,700 gallons of water to produce 1 gallon of ethanol. And one barrel of oil developed from oil shale will cost somewhere between $37 to $65, pretty reasonable. Also, the federal government, reads our tax dollars, doesn't need to subsidize oil shale development the same way it did for ethanol. As far as proven technology, a Brazil company has the technology. I say go for it the same way Thomas Edison developed the electric light bulb instead of sitting around waiting ...