���

Oil  Shale  poten-al  and  prospects  in  Israel – an  update  

 Tsevi Minster*, Tom Sladek**

tsevimin@gmail.com .32nd Oil Shale Symposium. Golden, CO; October 16th, 2012 צֶבי מינסטר

* - Geological Survey of Israel, Jerusalem; on Sabbatical with Intek Inc., Arlington, VA

** - Ockham Energy Services, Lakewood, CO

 

                 1.  Updated  data  on  reserves  and  grades.

2.  Summary  of  present  ac7vi7es  ,  in  general:

•  Mishor  Rotem:  Rotem  Amfert  (mining,  combus3on,  research);  several  other  research  projects.  

•  HaShefela  (central  Israel):  IEI/Genie  (drilling,  In-­‐situ  studies,  research).    3.        5-­‐year  explicit  predic7on:  •   Mishor  Rotem:  Rotem  Amfert  (mining  of  both  phosphate  &  oil  shale;  

beneficia3on  of  bituminous  phosphate  ore);  Addi3onal  company/ies  –  retor3ng  in  the  scale  of  10-­‐30K  barrels  of  Shale  Oil  per  year.  

•  Other  phosphate  plant/s:  Experiments  on    composite  u3liza3on  of  phosphate  and  oil  shale).  

•  HaShefela  (central  Israel):  IEI/Genie  (In-­‐situ  advanced  tests?).  •  Other  Oil  Shale  occurrences,    Southern  Israel:  Addi3onal  explora3on,  

possible  In-­‐situ  studies.  

   

“Highlights”  of  Presenta2on  

                 1.  Updated  data  on  reserves  and  grades.

2.  Summary  of  present  ac7vi7es  ,  in  general:

•   Mishor  Rotem:  Rotem  Amfert  (mining,  combus3on,  research);  several  other  research  projects.  

•  HaShefela  (central  Israel):  IEI/Genie  (drilling,  In-­‐situ  studies,  research).    3.        5-­‐year  explicit  predic7on:  •   Mishor  Rotem:  Rotem  Amfert  (mining  of  both  phosphate  &  oil  shale;  

beneficia3on  of  bituminous  phosphate  ore);  Addi3onal  company/ies  –  retor3ng  in  the  scale  of  10-­‐30K  barrels  of  Shale  Oil  per  year.  

•  Other  phosphate  plant/s:  Experiments  on    composite  u3liza3on  of  phosphate  and  oil  shale).  

•  HaShefela  (central  Israel):  IEI/Genie  (In-­‐situ  advanced  tests?).  •  Other  Oil  Shale  occurrences,    Southern  Israel:  Addi3onal  explora3on,  

possible  In-­‐situ  studies.  

   

“Highlights”  of  Presenta2on  

               

Oil  Shale  Deposits    

and  Occurrences    

in  Israel  ���

 Oil shale deposits covers ~15% of Israel’s area, mostly in the subsurface; there are few exposures. The “geological” reserves of oil shale were estimated as follows: •  Before 2000: ~12 billion tons (PAMA’s numbers) •  After 2003: >300 billion tons •  Inferred numbers are theoretically (“geological”

reserves) around 400 billion tons, which yield on the order of 180 billion barrels of Shale Oil.

•  New numbers provided by IEI/Genie indicate a much larger estimation for the shale-oil resources of Israel.

General Deposit / Approx. Oil Shale Approx. Oil Shale Approx. Average Technical Properties Reserve Location / Region Occurrence Area Thickness (m, Overburden Thickness (m, EOM (%) TOC (%) OY (%) G/T (~) Estimation

        (km2) Ghareb Fm) (in m) Mishash Fm) (Million  Tons)  

Mishor Rotem - Mishor Rotem 24 30-80 15-110 0-12 14.5   9.9   7.2 19.0 2,500 Yamin Mishor Yamin 38 30-90 100-150 5-15 15   10.2   7.4 19.6 3,500 Oron - Oron North 10.5 15-40 0-70 12-15 15.5   10.5   7.7 20.3 750

Oron South 9 20-30 20-75 10-20 16   10.9   7.9 20.9 700 Biq'at Nahash-Zameh 5 10-30 5-30 5-20 12.5   8.5   6.2 16.4 250

Zin Biq'at Zin 28.5 40-80 20-140 0-30 14   9.5   6.9 18.2 2,700 Nahal Zin Hagor 1 7-15 20-40 15-20 16.5   11.2   8.2 21.7

" Saraf 1 7-12 12-25 15-20 16.5   11.2   8.2 21.7 " Hor-Ha'har West 1.5 15-30 15-35 5-35 14   9.5   6.9 18.2 " Hor-Ha'har 0.5 5-11 12-30 20-35 16.5   11.2   8.2 21.7 250 " Yorke'am South 0.5 25-35 5-35         " Yorke'am North 0.7 4-9 20-35 10-30 22 15   10.9 28.8 " Akrabbim 0.7 30-40 10-30        

Northern Negev Sde-Boker - Avedat 21 20-80 50-150 5-30 14-19 9.5-­‐12.9   6.9-9.4 18.2-24.8 1,800 " Shivta 12.5 25-80 50-70 20-50 8-17 5.4-­‐11.6   4-8.4 10.6-22.2 500 " Yeroham 4.5 30-50 40-130 10-50 10-15 6.8-­‐10.2   5-7.4 13.2-19.6 300 " Zavo'a 1.5 15 60-70 ? 13   8.8   6.4 16.9 50 " Nevatim 12 40-60 140-340 20-40 12-15 8.2-­‐10.2   6-7.4 10.6-19.6 1,000 " Mash'abim 75 150-250 30-300 ? ? ? ? ? 10,000*

Dead-Sea En-Bokek 3.5 180 0-50     ? ? ? ? 100 Gidron 9 5-18 20-35     10   6.8   5 13.2 100

Arava  &   Shahak 17.5 10-25 20-70     10   6.8   5 13.2 500 Shilhav - Omer 14.5 20-65 10-40     10-13 6.8-­‐8.8   6.4-7.4 13.2-19.6 900

Central   Har Nishpe 4.5 20-55 5-65     12-14 8.2-­‐9.5   6-7.4 10.6-19.6 HaMeishar 3.5 20-40 20-40     ? ? ? ? 300

Negev   Paran (Zihor) 5 20-40 20-40     ? ? ? ? 150

   Zenifim (Nahal Hiyyon) 185 20-60 50-150     8 5.4   4 10.6 2,000

Coastal   HaShefela 1000 30-300 25-300 *   15-16* 10.2-­‐10.9   7.4-7.9* 19.6-20.9* 300,000* Plain   Hadera-East 35 30-180 20-140 *   ? ? ? ? 7,000

Northern   Emek Zevulun 36 50-300 40-100 *   ? ? ? ? 4,000 Israel,   Arbel 10 50-90 40-350     10-15 6.8-­‐10.2   5-7.4 13.2-19.6 1,200

Galilee  Ramat-HaGolan, South ? 250-400 30-300 *   ? ? ? ? 4000

Jordan  Valley   Nabi-Musa ? 25-40 0-50 ? 17 11.6   8.4 22.2 100 •  IEI G/T

Figures – •  25-30 G/T F   369,450

Updated  Data  on  Oil  Shale  Occurrences  in  Israel  

Global  Oil  Shale  Resources  –“playing”  with  numbers  

>

**

Unlikely figures in presentations based on preferred customers AMSO has interests in Israel, and thus “it has more shale oil resources than Saudi Arabia Oil”*, so Israel has 2.5 times more oil shale reserves than Jordan.

Enefit has strong interests in Jordan; thus Jordan’s oil shale reserves are some 14 times greater than those of Israel…**.

* - AMSO web site ** - Enefit web site

@

For  the  record  –  OS  reserves  in  Jordan  are  greater  than  Israel’s,  not  by  factor  of  14….  

Oil Shale in Israel – the host rocks In most of the rocks in Israel termed oil shale, the main inorganic constituents are carbonates - namely chalks, marly chalks and chalky marlstones. These domestic rocks are sometimes called 'bituminous' (e.g., bituminous chalks), though only a small portion of the organic matter in the rock is actually bitumen. Other rock types enriched, in places, in organic material (mostly of Campanian age) are porcelanites (silica-rich) and phosphate – carbonate – silica-enriched beds.

Some Properties of Israeli Oil Shale •  In most of the investigated sequences (Ghareb Formation) the host rocks are carbonates. •  The organic matter is mostly Type II Kerogen (Spiro, 1980). •  On the basis of Hutton’s (1987) classification they are marine oil shale of the Marinite type;

their origin is probably from marine phytoplankton.

•  The organic matter content (EOM) is 4-26%. Higher values are rare and were found in a few

silica-rich samples. •  In geo-economical studies a Cut-off value of 10% EOM is still in use. •  Sulphur resides in the organic and inorganic fractions. Pyrite, anhydrite and some gypsum

are the main constituents. Average S content is 1.7-2.5% but oil shale from the lower Ghareb sequence may reach S values of 3-4%

More about Israeli Oil Shale •  The rock density is 1.5-2.1 gr/cm3. As can be expected – when

the EOM content increases, the density decreases. •  The “moisture” (uncombined water, Ghareb Fm.) content is

relatively high, 20-24%. •  The given properties are typical to the Maastrichtian Ghareb

Fm., in studied basins. There are possibly more varieties of domestic oil shale, such as:

1) In the sequence of the underlying Mishash Formation, which has higher silica and phosphorous content and considerably lower moisture values. 2) In some less studied basins (e.g. - higher Mg values in En- Bokek; clay content in Nabi-Musa). •  Oil Shale is considered to be an important source rock for hydrocarbons generation, especially in the Dead-Sea Graben area.

Oil Yield of Israeli Oil Shale

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Organic Matter Content vs. Oil Yield: Mishor Rotem - Yamin, Oron North, Nahal Zin,

Ghareb Formation

N = 846

Oil Yield = 0.493 x EOM - 0.755

R-squared = 0.843

~27 Gal(US)/Ton

~12 Gal(US)/Ton

Average EOM = 14.13%Average Oil Yield = 6.21%

1.  Useful parameter to assess oil shale grade, especially for shale oil production.

2.  The oil yield (OY) of Israeli oil shale is roughly 45-100 l/t ((EOM 10-20%).

3.  Average OY, with no cut-off, is ~62 l/t (for the Ghareb Fm).

4.  Using a cut-off value of 10% EOM, the average OY is 75-80 l/t, which is around 20 gallon (US) per metric ton.

Oil Yield vs EOM, Ghareb Fm, Northern Negev

Lower cut-off value in the Green River Fm – 14 US gallons per ton

Mishor Rotem: Close Association of Oil Shale & Phosphates  

•  Major  Phosphate  mining  area  and  site  for  variety  of  fer7lizers  industries.  •  Oil  Shale  sequence  is  a  major  por7on  of  the  overburden  above  the  

economic  phosphate  beds.  

•  Below  each  sq.  km  of  oil  shale  body  there  are  ≈  10  million  tons  of  phosphate  rock    

           (Shiloni & Minster, 1980’s).  •  New  phosphate  mining  permits  becoming  extremely  difficult  to  obtain.  •  Mining  expenses  in  a  gradual  decline,  whereas  phosphate  rock  prices  are  

high.    •  Considerable amounts of mined Oil Shale rocks [as overburden to

phosphate beds], is “waiting” to be processed!

•  Looking  for  an  adequate  (environmentally  friendly)  retor7ng  process.    •  Currently  Mishor  Rotem  is  a  leading  site  of  oil  shale  mining  in  the  globe      

(>  1m  tons/year)

Mishor Rotem Oil Shale \ Phosphates Deposit

Mishor Rotem Oil Shale Deposit (MROSD)

•  Mishor Rotem Oil Shale Deposit is the most thoroughly investigated oil shale deposit in Israel.

•  During 40 years of prospection some 400 boreholes were drilled, many thousands analyses carried out and variety of aspects studied.

•  The oil shale member is usually 30-75 m thick, some 48 m on average (~200 boreholes).

•  The deposit covers an area of ~25 km2 and the reserves (EOM>6.8%, Ghareb Fm.) are about 2.2 billion tons.

•  Oil Shale beds, probably of lower grades, were penetrated below the phosphate sequence. Need to be further studied.

Mishor  Rotem  Oil  Shale  /  Phosphate  Deposit  Sand – 0-50 m

Conglomerate – 0-10 m

Non-bituminous

marlstone – 20-100 m

Oil Shale – 20-100 m Phosphate – 8-15 m Chalk, phosphate – 20-50 m Porcelanite, chert

A  detailed  geological    columnar  sec-on  of  Phosphate  beds    topped    by  Oil  Shale  sequence  

Oil  shale  beds  are  known  to  exist  below  the  phosphate  beds  but  the  informa3on  is  preliminary.  Further  research  is  needed.      

In great parts of the northern portion of the deposit, the stripping ratio is less than 1.

Mishor Rotem Oil Shale Deposit

Overburden to Oil Shale (Ghareb Fm) Ratio Map

Oil Shale permits in Mishor Rotem (8/2011 update)

Dead-­‐Sea  Periclase  Potash  

Terminal  

New  Gas    Generators  

Site  

Haifa    Chemicals  (South)  

Railway  Terminal  

Rotem  (RAN)  Fer7lizers  Complex  PAMA  

Center  (old)  Sand  

Quarry  

Phospho-­‐  gypsum  piles    

Oil  Shale  (below  surface)  

 

Produc2on  ponds  

 

1  km  

Mining  &  Industrial  ac7vi7es  in  the  southern  por7on  of  Mishor  Rotem  

Oil  shale  “cliff”  in  the    open-­‐pit  mine,  Mishor  Rotem.  

 May  2012.  

The  oil  shale  open  pit  mine    in  Mishor  Rotem,  ~5  years  ago.    

Photo  was  taken  from  the  western    edge  of  the  mine,  looking  to  the  east.  

 

Elongated  phosphate  mine  in  which    the  western  edge  of  the  Oil  Shale    

body  was  exposed.      

Google  Map  pictures  of  some  phosphate  

mines  in  the  north  of  Mishor  Rotem.  

1,000  feet  

1,500  feet  

Mining  steps  of  ~15m  High,  each  

Oil  Shale  sequence  in  the  subsurface  

August  31  2012  

Open-­‐pit  phosphate  mine    in  Mishor  Rotem,  2012  

Spontaneous “fires” of oil shale in Mishor Rotem mining sites

are of great environmental concern The typical, unpleasant odor is spread, in some “bad” days, to reach communities

located 15-25 km from the mines. This almost lead to the shutdown of the Oil

Shale (small) power plant in 2011.

Possible explanation to this phenomenon is the Exothermic transformation of Anhydrite to Gypsum

Rotem Amfert Negev (RAN) tries firmly to solve this severe problem in various ways

Source:  EIA  web  site  

Crude  Oil    consump7on  

In  Israel  (1980-­‐2009)  (in  1,000  

barrels  /  day)  

*  Current  oil  refining  capacity  in  Israel  ~220,000  bpd  

Site of the Ashdod refinery  Capacity  -­‐  ~90,000  bpd  Distance  from  MishorRotem  -­‐  ~  80  miles  Railroad    connec3on  available  

Transporta-on  of  20,000  bpd  shale  oil  to  refinery  requires  a  daily  train  of    28-­‐29  wagons  (of  700  barrels).  

Addi-onal  phosphate  mining  areas  where  Phosphate  beds  are  associated  with  Oil  Shale.  

Possible  co-­‐existence  in  the  future?  

Nahal Zin

Oron (north)

Oil Shale Deposits and Occurrences in Israel

*    Oil  shale  deposits  cover  ~15%  of  Israel’s  area.  

 

*    Es7mated  geological  resources  of  oil  shale  are                ~  370  billion  tons,  which  may  be  equivalent                to  about  ~  180  billion  barrels  of  Shale  Oil.                  Recent  es7mates  are  even  higher  than  that.  

Mishor  Rotem                IEI/Genie  permit  area                in  the  Ha’Shefela  deposit  

Ashdod

Haifa

Tel- Aviv

Addi7onal  deposits  suggested  for    in-­‐situ  studies    

Jerusalem

Wells  in  the  IEI  license  area  and  Oil  Yield  results  obtained  in  one  of  them  (*)  

     

Fischer Assay vs Depth Aderet #1

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From  an  IEI/Genie  recent  report –  presented  by  IEI  request.  

*

Bet-­‐  Shemesh  

Kiryat-­‐  Gat  

Parts  of  the  studied  sequence  contains  beds  With  yields  of  25-­‐30  gpt.  

“The total oil in place in the area of the License

is 93 Billion bbl”

N-­‐S  Cross  Sec3on  

The  above  reserve  figure    is  considered  to  be  very  large,  as  it  represents  about  ¼  of  that  deposit.  This  means  an  increase  in  the  total  es-mated  resources  of  Israel.      

Examples  of  op7onal  sites  that  might  be  adequate  alterna7ves  for  In-­‐situ  experimental  loca7ons  1.  Having  adequate  geological  condi7ons  of  the  oil  shale  beds              (depth,  thickness,  inferred  quality,  impermeable  beds  above              and  below  the  oil  shale  sequence).  2.  Not  associated  with  major  water  resources.  3.  Limited  popula7on.  4.  Well-­‐developed  infrastructures  (convenient  access,  nearby              railroads,  available  electricity,  etc.).    

IEI/Genie  ini3a3ve  in  HaShefela  region,  Central  Israel,    is  currently  under  pressure  from  environmentalists,    domes3c  ci3zens  and  the  general  public,  being    concerned  about  nega3ve  environmental  implica3ons  of  conduc3ng  in-­‐situ  experiments  in  this  area.  

0 5 10 15% EOM (Easily Oxidized Material)

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Borehole Ben-Gurion-1, Sede-Boker

Ghareb Fm

Mishash Fm

*

0 5 10 15 20 25% EOM (Easily Oxidized Material)

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Borehole NS-28, Sede-Boker

Ghareb Fm

Mishash Fm*

* - Defined by Gamma-logging method

Vertical logs representing the organic matter distribution In boreholes in the Sde-Boker - Avedat & Biq’at Zin deposits

Es7mated  reserves  in  each  of    the  deposits  –  3-­‐10  billion  tons  

Biq’at  Zin  

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Nevatim-1 Oil Borehole

Ghareb Formation ??

Mishash Formation??

Neva7m  Oil  Shale  occurrence  located  ~  5  miles  from  Beer-­‐Sheva,  

near  a  railway  line  Reserves  -­‐  ???  several  billion  tons  ???  

0 5 10 15Organic Matter Content (%)

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Borehole Bottom

M-8 Borehole ("Med.-Dead" Project)

Ghareb Formation

Mishash Formation

Oil Shale Deposits and Occurrences

in Israel

*    Oil  shale  deposits  cover  ~15%  of  Israel’s  area.    

*    Es7mated  geological  resources  of  oil  shale  are                ~  370  billion  tons,  in  theory  -­‐  ~  180  billion                barrels  of  Shale  Oil.  Recent  es7mates  are                  higher  than  that.  

Mishor  Rotem                  IEI/Genie  permit  area                in  the  Ha’Shefela  deposit  

Ashdod

Haifa

Tel- Aviv

Addi7onal  deposits  suggested  for    in-­‐situ  studies    

Jerusalem

1.  Updated  data  on  reserves  and  grades.  

2.  Summary  of  present  ac7vi7es  ,  in  general:  

•  Mishor  Rotem:  Rotem  Amfert  (mining,  combus3on,  research);  several  other  research  projects.  

•  HaShefela  (central  Israel):  IEI/Genie  (drilling,  In-­‐situ  studies,  research).  

3.        5-­‐year  explicit  predic7on:  

•  Mishor  Rotem:  Rotem  Amfert  (mining  of  both  phosphate  &  oil  shale;  beneficia7on  of  bituminous  phosphate  ore);  Addi3onal  company/ies  –  retor3ng  in  the  scale  of  10-­‐30K  barrels  of  Shale  Oil  per  year.  

•  Other  phosphate  plant/s:  Experiments  on  composite  u7liza7on  of  phosphate  and  oil  shale.  

•  HaShefela  (central  Israel):  IEI/Genie  (In-­‐situ  advanced  tests?).  

•  Other  Oil  Shale  occurrences,    Southern  Israel:  Addi3onal  explora3on,  possible  In-­‐situ  studies.  

 

 

“Highlights”  of  Presenta2on  

There is a need to encourage investors to contribute new information on additional, unstudied Oil Shale occurrences (follow the Jordanian’s policy…)

                 

1.  Updated  data  on  reserves  and  grades.

2.  Summary  of  present  ac7vi7es  ,  in  general:

•   Mishor  Rotem:  Rotem  Amfert  (mining,  combus3on,  research);  several  other  research  projects.  

•  HaShefela  (central  Israel):  IEI/Genie  (drilling,  In-­‐situ  studies,  research).  

3.        5-­‐year  explicit  predic7on:  

•  Mishor  Rotem:  Rotem  Amfert  (mining  of  both  phosphate  &  oil  shale;  beneficia7on  of  bituminous  phosphate  ore);  Addi3onal  company/ies  –  retor3ng  in  the  scale  of  10-­‐30K  barrels  of  Shale  Oil  per  year.  

•  Other  phosphate  plant/s:  Experiments  on  composite  u7liza7on  of  phosphate  and  oil  shale.  

•  HaShefela  (central  Israel):  IEI/Genie  (In-­‐situ  advanced  tests?).  

•  Other  Oil  Shale  occurrences,    Southern  Israel:  Addi3onal  explora3on,  possible  In-­‐situ  studies.  

 

 

“Highlights”  of  Presenta2on  

There is a need to encourage investors to contribute new information on additional, unstudied Oil Shale occurrences (follow the Jordanian’s policy…)

תוֹדָה!

-  Special thanks to Intek Inc., VA

-  Comments & recommendations represent authors’ opinions

Oil  &  Gas  Inland  and  off-­‐shore  permits,  Israel  

Most  significant  for  the  domes7c  energy  balance                      Supply  due  to  start  by  4/2013.    Neighboring  countries  may  benefit  as  well!