U.S. Energy Corp, Nasdaq listed, announced that it has invested around US$ 3.5 million in Standard Steam Trust LLC, a private geothermal exploration and development company based in Denver, Colorado.

Standard Steam, with a current capitalization of US$ 13.8 million holds approximately 60,000 acres of BLM, state and fee leases in seven prospect areas on three states. Of those around 15,200 acres were just recently acquired in the December 19, 2008 BLM lease sale in Utah.

“After spending considerable time reviewing the renewable energy sector, we firmly believe that our entry into geothermal provides our company with a strong position in a market that has tremendous growth potential,” said Mark Larsen, President of U.S. Energy Corp. “Geothermal is a renewable subsurface fuel, and our partners are applying their extensive experience in modern oil and gas plays to geothermal exploration. This sector shows significant promise at a time when carbon management is playing an increasing role in the generation of clean energy in our nation,” he added.

Source: msnbc.com