Shale oil
This article is about synthetic petroleum produced by
pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or thermal dissolution from oil
shale. For crude oil occurring in shale reservoirs and also
referred to as 'shale oil', see Tight oil.
Shale oil is an unconventional oil produced from oil shale
rock fragments by pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or thermal
dissolution. These processes convert the organic mat-
ter within the rock (kerogen) into synthetic oil and gas.
The resulting oil can be used immediately as a fuel or
upgraded to meet refinery feedstock specifications by
adding hydrogen and removing impurities such as sulfur
and nitrogen. The refined products can be used for the
same purposes as those derived from crude oil.
The term “shale oil” is also used for crude oil produced
from shales of other very low permeability formations.
However, to reduce the risk of confusion of shale oil
produced from oil shale with crude oil in oil-bearing
shales, the term "tight oil" is preferred for the latter.[1]
The International Energy Agency recommends to use the
term "light tight oil" and World Energy Resources 2013
report by the World Energy Council uses the term "tight
oil" for crude oil in oil-bearing shales.[2][3]
1 History
Main article: History of the oil shale industry
Oil shale was one of the first sources of mineral oil used
Three West Lothian shale mounds, evidence of the early paraffin
oil industry in the 19th century Scotland
by humans.[4] Its earliest recorded use was in Switzerland oil shale industries perform the shale oil extraction pro-
and Austria in the early 14th century.[5] In 1596, the per- cess after the rock is mined, crushed and transported to
sonal physician of Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg
wrote of its healing properties.[6] Shale oil was used to
light the streets of Modena, Italy at the turn of the 17th
century.[6] The British Crown granted a patent in 1694 to
three persons who had “found a way to extract and make
great quantities of pitch, tarr and oyle out of a sort of
stone.”[6][7][8] Later sold as Betton’s British Oil, the dis-
tilled product was said to have been “tried by divers per-
sons in Aches and Pains with much benefit.”[9] Modern
shale oil extraction industries were established in France
during the 1830s and in Scotland during the 1840s.[10]
The oil was used as fuel, as a lubricant and lamp oil;
the Industrial Revolution had created additional demand
for lighting. It served as a substitute for the increasingly
scarce and expensive whale oil.[6][11][12]
During the late 19th century, shale-oil extraction plants
were built in Australia, Brazil and the United States.
China, Estonia, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain,
Sweden and Switzerland produced shale oil in the early
20th century. The discovery of crude oil in the Mid-
dle East during mid-century brought most of these in-
dustries to a halt, although Estonia and Northeast China
maintained their extraction industries into the early 21st
century.[10][13][14] In response to rising petroleum costs
at the turn of the 21st century, extraction operations
have commenced, been explored, or been renewed in the
United States, China, Australia and Jordan.[14]
2 Toxicology
Shale oil contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and
is a known carcinogen[15] reported as being responsible
for Mule spinners’ cancer and the World Health Orga-
nization classifies shale oil as Group 1 carcinogens to
humans.[16]
3 Extraction process
Main article: Shale oil extraction
Shale oil is extracted by pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or ther-
mal dissolution of oil shale.[17][18] The pyrolysis of the
rock is performed in a retort, situated either above ground
or within the rock formation itself. As of 2008, most
1
2 6 USAGE

a retorting facility, although several experimental tech- a complex mixture of hydrocarbons, and it is charac-
nologies perform the process in place (in-situ). The tem- terized using bulk properties of the oil. Shale oil usu-
perature at which the kerogen decomposes into usable ally contains large quantities of olefinic and aromatic hy-
hydrocarbons varies with the time-scale of the process; drocarbons. Shale oil can also contain significant quan-
in the above-ground retorting process decomposition be- tities of heteroatoms. A typical shale oil composition
gins at 300 °C (570 °F), but proceeds more rapidly and includes 0.5–1% of oxygen, 1.5–2% of nitrogen and
completely at higher temperatures. Decomposition takes 0.15–1% of sulfur, and some deposits contain more het-
place most quickly at a temperature between 480 and 520 eroatoms. Mineral particles and metals are often present
°C (900 and 970 °F).[17] as well.[31][32] Generally, the oil is less fluid than crude
Hydrogenation and thermal dissolution (reactive fluid oil, becoming pourable at temperatures between 24 and
27 °C (75 and 81 °F), while conventional crude oil is
processes) extract the oil using hydrogen donors, solvents,
or a combination of these. Thermal dissolution involves pourable at temperatures between −60 to 30 °C (−76 to
86 °F); this property affects shale oil’s ability to be trans-
the application of solvents at elevated temperatures and
pressures, increasing oil output by cracking the dissolved ported in existing pipelines.[31][33][34]
organic matter. Different methods produce shale oil with
different properties.[18][19][20][21]
A critical measure of the viability of extraction of shale
5 Upgrading
oil lies in the ratio of the energy produced by the oil
shale to the energy used in its mining and processing, a Although raw shale oil can be immediately burnt as a fuel
ratio known as “Energy Returned on Energy Invested” oil, many of its applications require that it be upgraded.
(EROEI). An EROEI of 2 (or 2:1 ratio) would mean that The differing properties of the raw oils call for corre-
to produce 2 barrels of actual oil the equivalent in energy spondingly various pre-treatments before it can be sent
of 1 barrel of oil has to be burnt/consumed. A 1984 study to a conventional oil refinery.[35]
estimated the EROEI of the various known oil-shale de- Particulates in the raw oil clog downstream processes;
posits as varying between 0.7–13.3.[22] More recent stud- sulfur and nitrogen create air pollution. Sulfur and ni-
ies estimates the EROEI of oil shales to be 1–2:1 or 2– trogen, along with the arsenic and iron that may be
16:1 – depending on whether self-energy is counted as a present, also destroy the catalysts used in refining.[36][37]
cost or internal energy is excluded and only purchased en- Olefins form insoluble sediments and cause instabil-
ergy is counted as input.[23] Royal Dutch Shell reported ity. The oxygen within the oil, present at higher lev-
an EROEI of three to four in 2006 on its in situ develop- els than in crude oil, lends itself to the formation of
ment in the "Mahogany Research Project.”[24][25] destructive free radicals.[32] Hydrodesulfurization and
The amount of oil that can be recovered during retort- hydrodenitrogenation can address these problems and
ing varies with the oil shale and the technology used.[14] result in a product comparable to benchmark crude
About one sixth of the oil shales in the Green River For- oil.[31][32][38][39] Phenols can be first be removed by water
mation have a relatively high yield of 25 to 100 US gallons extraction.[39] Upgrading shale oil into transport fuels re-
(95 to 379 l; 21 to 83 imp gal) of shale oil per ton of oil quires adjusting hydrogen–carbon ratios by adding hydro-
shale; about one third yield from 10 to 25 US gallons (38 gen (hydrocracking) or removing carbon (coking).[38][39]
to 95 l; 8.3 to 20.8 imp gal) per ton. (Ten US gal/ton Shale oil produced by some technologies, such as the
is approximately 3.4 tons of oil per 100 tons of shale.) Kiviter process, can be used without further upgrading as
About half of the oil shales in the Green River Formation an oil constituent and as a source of phenolic compounds.
yield less than 10 US gal/ton.[26] Distillate oils from the Kiviter process can also be used
The major global shale oil producers have published their as diluents for petroleum-originated heavy oils and as an
yields for their commercial operations. Fushun Mining adhesive-enhancing additive in bituminous materials such
[39]
Group reports producing 300,000 tons per year of shale as asphalt.
oil from 6.6 million tons of shale, a yield of 4.5% by
weight.[27] VKG Oil claims to produce 250,000 tons of oil
per year from 2 million tons of shale, a yield of 13%.[28] 6 Usage
Petrobras produces in their Petrosix plant 550 tons of oil
per day from 6,200 tons of shale, a yield of 9%.[29]
Before World War II, most shale oil was upgraded for
use as transport fuels. Afterwards, it was used as a raw
material for chemical intermediates, pure chemicals and
4 Properties industrial resins, and as a railroad wood preservative. As
of 2008, it is primarily used as a heating oil and marine
The properties of raw shale oil vary depending on the fuel, and to a lesser extent in the production of various
[35]
composition of the parent oil shale and the extraction chemicals.
technology used.[30] Like conventional oil, shale oil is Shale oil’s concentration of high-boiling point com-

pounds is suited for the production of middle distillates
such as kerosene, jet fuel and diesel fuel.[32][40][41] Addi-
tional cracking can create the lighter hydrocarbons used
in gasoline.[32][42]
7 Reserves and production
Main article: Oil shale reserves
Global technically recoverable oil shale reserves have re- [9] Forbes, R.J. (1970). A Short History of the Art of Distilla-
cently been estimated at about 2.8 to 3.3 trillion barrels
(450×109 to 520×109 m3 ) of shale oil, with the largest re-
serves in the United States, which is thought to have 1.5–
2.6 trillion barrels (240×109 –410×109 m3 ).[13][40][43][44] [10] Francu, Juraj; Harvie, Barbra; Laenen, Ben; Siirde, An-
Worldwide production of shale oil was estimated at
17,700 barrels per day (2,810 m3 /d) in 2008. The lead-
ing producers were China (7,600 barrels per day (1,210
m3 /d)), Estonia (6,300 barrels per day (1,000 m3 /d)), and
Brazil (3,800 barrels per day (600 m3 /d)).[13]
The production of shale oil has been hindered because
of technical difficulties and costs.[45] In March 2011, the [11] Doscher, Todd M. “Petroleum”. MSN Encarta. Retrieved
United States Bureau of Land Management called into
question proposals in the U.S. for commercial operations,
stating that "There are no economically viable ways yet [12] “Oil Shale”. American Association of Petroleum Geolo-
known to extract and process oil shale for commercial pur-
[46]
poses."
8 See also
• Oil shale gas
• Underground coal gasification
9 References
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6 10 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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