The price escalation of petroleum in recent times has removed the economic barrier to shale oil production, or soon will. A technological base for production is available which can be rapidly developed to the size and quality needed. The resource base in the Piceance Creek Basin of Colorado can support production of 1 to 5 million barrels of oil per day for hundreds of years. Institutional problems are the major remaining impediment to the development of oil shale. The small part of the resource in private hands is economically marginal and cannot support large production rates or the most efficient methods. The best land is owned by the Federal Government and is unavailable under present laws and policies. The lack of an integrated federal policy and an implementation plan prevents the development that is now technically and economically practical. One possible solution is a Piceance Basin Authority chartered by Congress to efficiently manage this resource and coordinate the federal governmental responsibility for oil shale resource development and conservation, water development, environmental control, and land use policy. It should be located in Colorado for an effective interaction with State and local authorities where both have responsibility. Government lands must be made accessible on a scale suitable to the technology and in a way that is acceptable to the public and to industry. Government and industry can then cooperate in a unitized, coordinated development of the resource and the area. With access to the resource and a clear government responsibility for area-wide, non-commercial planning and development, industry can provide the technology and capital for production and marketing of shale oil on an economically competitive basis.