Chevron said it is closing its Utah shale-oil plant.

The $180-million venture is jointly operated by Chevron Shale Oil and Conoco Shale. Chevron said that the test plant, built in 1983, successfully produced shale oil but that the product wouldn’t be commercially feasible until crude oil cost $65 a barrel, which isn’t expected to happen until the year 2000. When Chevron undertook the project, oil was expected to hit that price in 1988. San Francisco-based Chevron also said it is selling its Bluebell and Altamont oil fields in eastern Utah as part of a divestiture to help reduce the $14.1-billion debt that the firm took on when it bought Gulf Corp. last March.