Estonia, U.S. to research oil shale

The United States hopes to sign a cooperation agreement with Estonia on oil shale in the summer, a top U.S. official said.

"High oil prices have raised the interest of countries having oil shale deposits toward the exploitation of these deposits," said Jeff Kupfer, deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy. "Estonia's longtime experience in this field makes us a good partner for cooperation in research and business alike."

The comments, which came after a meeting with Estonian Minister of Economy and Communications Juhan Parts on Friday, were reported by BNS.

According to the report, the United States could and should be involved in the work of the Estonian center for oil shale research. Kupfer said he promised to support Estonia's aspiration to join the 21 countries that are members of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership.