The development of a new industry, which must prepare its marketable products at or near the source of the raw materials, and ship them to a market which may cover half a nation, is more or less influenced by a number of natural and cultural conditions such as (1) location of plants with respect to a large market, (2) climatic conditions, (3) transportation facilities, (4) labor supply, and (5) water supply. An effort is made in this paper to give in detail a number of the more important of these conditions as they affect, either favorably or unfavorably, the development of the oil shale resources of southwestern Indiana.