$30 domestic coal oil?

The story is a little dated. But, not as dated as the 100 year old process of making oil from coal.
And don't be fooled... the conversion of any fuel from one state (solid/liquid) to another comes with a major energy loss and heavy utilization of other often finite resources.

WFAA - Researchers at the Unviersity of Texas at Arlington say they've found a practical way to make synthetic crude from inexpensive coal that's common in Texas.
It's still fossil fuel, but scientists say it could bridge the gap until greener technologies catch up.
People have been turning coal into oil for 100 years or more, but researchers at UTA say they've invented a better way to do it.

"This is East Texas lignite coal. We go from that to this really nice liquid," said Professor Brian Dennis of a light synthetic crude, easily refined into gasoline.

"We're improving the cost every day. We started off sometime ago at an uneconomical $17,000 a barrel. Today, we're at a cost of $28.84 a barrel," said engineering dean Rick Billo.

That's $28 a barrel versus $75 we pay now for imported crude.

Read full at WFAA