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What is oil shale?
• Rocks containing Kerogen
• Formed by Organic Matter Deposits in Aquatic Environs
History
• Used since at least 1300 AD
• USA and others countries havee experimented with production since mid-1800s
• American Booms: 1915-late 1920s
1973-early 1990s
Mining
• Underground (In-Situ)• Shale is fractured and heated underground to release oils• High potential but methods still experimental
• Surface (Open Pit)• Traditional mining from the earth’s surface• Transported to processing facility
In-Situ Research
• Electrical heating in Colorado • Lowers heating element into well which heats
kerogen over four years• Converts organic material into oils and gases
which are then pumped to the surface• Advantages: • Reduces footprint of extraction operations• Could potentially extract more oil from a given
area of land
The Refining Process
• Fractional Distillation
* Separation
* Removal of contaminants and impurities
* Further processing
How much is available?
Estimated Shale Oil Reserves (Millions of Tonnes)
Region Shale Reserves Kerogen Reserves Kerogen in Place
Africa 12,373 500 5,900
Asia 20,570 1,100 –
Australia 32,400 1,725 36,985
Europe 4,180 300 6,500
Middle East 35,360 4,600 24,600
North America 3,340,000 80,000 140,000
South America – 400 9,600
We have it: let’s apply it to our needs
• 1.56 Trillion potential barrels of recoverable oil worldwide
980 billion potential barrels in the US
• On a world scale, assuming China and India increase oil demand excessively, we have potentially 62 yrs of shale oil
• Domestically, if we don’t import or export, we
have potentially 157 years of shale oil
Distribution: is it possible here?
Current natural gas pipeline system
Current Refined and Crude Oil Pipelines
Efficiency: We Can Only Get Better
• The Canadians did it, so can we
• High areal density
• With In-Situ recovery the EROEI is 3.5:1.– Crude oil’s EROEI is about 5:1.
• In-Situ uses less than 1/3 of a barrel of water– Could create drinking water
Competitive Costs
• Today oil shale is competitive when a barrel of oil costs $58.50 – Oil Tech $10-20– Shell $30– Open pit $40-50
Environmental costs?
• Problem: open-pit mining– Production uses
and pollutes water
– Exposed sulfides oxidize by air and rain, creating sulfuric acid.
In Estonia, EU environmental reforms threaten the end of self-sufficiency by open-pit shale oil
harvesting.
Technology: alleviating the environment
• Companies like Chattanooga Corp have further developed in-situ mining, resulting in:
* Dry processing.
* Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
* Simultaneous land reclamation.
* Minimized plant footprint.
* Removal of 99.8% of all sulfur.
• Shell claims they will be able to harvest about 65% of the oil in place, in both liquid and natural gas forms.
A solution to the foreign problem
• Self sufficiency: avoid Estonia’s mistakes– Use new technology for optimum efficiency
and minimal environmental impact.
• Additional shale available from “friendly countries”– Maintain and strengthen relations with those
countries who can help us with transition to shale oil.