Construction, Energy, Estonia, Good for Business, Investments, Oil, USA

Eesti Energia, which operates internationally under the Enefit brand, acquired oil shale reserves estimated at 6.6 billion tons in the state of Utah in March 2011 with a view to developing a shale oil plant with daily output of 50,000 barrels there.

"A project of that size has the possibility for a couple thousand jobs in an area of the country [USA] where jobs are very scarce and where there's very few alternatives. So I think they have a great likelihood of success," Worthington said in an interview.

In his words, the Utah oil shale project definitely has potential. "It's a huge resource base. It's on privately owned land and with our legal framework in the US, landowners have the right to develop resources on their property," he explained.

Worthington also said that from all the information he has been given the state of Utah and local people are very supportive of the project. "They want to see the project go forward, they understand and appreciate the economic prospects of this project. It's going to provide jobs for a lot of people, not just the direct jobs but the indirect jobs. And the construction jobs, they're all very important in that part of the country," he said.

In developing the project, it is important to deal with issues concerning community relationships, Worthington said. "Having been in the energy industry as long as I have, I would make the observation that many projects can tolerate opposition, as long as it's not local opposition," he said. "If Enefit America is able to keep the support of the people who live in Utah and live in communities that surround the project, their likelihood of success is very great."