http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aoZ7q9LhDrVs&refer=home

 ..... approx 1-year ago news. How likely possible is it today since more R&D went into the idea? Being in the Eng.field I say highly likely but we have to also look at other cost as goods and services that did increased overtime. So lets stick to $30.00 for now.

 Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., the two biggest U.S. energy companies, and Royal Dutch Shell Plc are spending $100 million a year testing new methods to separate the oil from the stone for as little as $30 a barrel. A growing number of industry executives and analysts say new technology and persistently high prices make the idea feasible.

Shell, based in the Hague, estimates it can extract oil from Colorado shale for $30 a barrel, less than half today's price of $66 for benchmark New York futures.