Oil shale industry

Industry

Currently oil shale is used industrially in Brazil, China, Estonia and to some extent in Germany, Israel and Russia, while several other countries research their reserves, have experimental production or have phase-out their oil shale industry. Estonia accounts for about 70% of the world's oil shale production.

History of usage

File:Production of oil shale.PNG

Production of oil shale in millions of metric tons from Estonia (Estonia deposit), Russia (Leningrad and Kashpir deposits), United Kingdom (Scotland, Lothians), Brazil (Iratí Formation), China (Maoming and Fushun deposits), and Germany (Dotternhausen) from 1880 to 2000.

Oil shale has been used since ancient times. In 1637, Swedish alum shale of Cambrian and Ordovician age was used for extracting potassium aluminium sulphate. The modern use of oil shale for shale oil production dates to the mid-19th century. In 1837 oil shale mining began at the Autun mines in France, and continued until 1957. In 1847 the Scottish chemist James Young prepared "lighting oil," lubricating oil and wax from torbanite. In 1850 he patented the process of cracking oil. Oil from oil shale was produced in Scotland from 1857 until 1962 when production ceased due to the lower cost of petroleum.

Germany developed its shale oil industry from mid-19th century until the 1940s. Today, only Rohrbach Zement in Dotternhausen uses oil shale for cement, and power and thermal energy production. Sweden retorted oil from shale from the end of the 19th century until 1966. In addition, in 1950-1989 alum shale was used in Sweden for uranium production and in the 1960s a small amount of vanadium was produced.

Estonia first used oil shale as a low-grade fuel in 1838 after attempts to distill oil from the material failed. Estonia's resource was not seriously exploited until fuel shortages during World War I made it viable. Mining began in 1918 and has continued since, with the size of operation increasing with demand. After World War II, Estonian-produced oil shale gas was used in Leningrad and the cities in North Estonia as a substitute for natural gas. Two large oil shale-fired power stations were opened, a 1,400-MW plant in 1965 and a 1,600-MW plant in 1973. Oil shale production peaked in 1980 at 31.35 million tonnes. However, in 1981 the fourth reactor of the Sosnovy Bor nuclear power station opened nearby in Leningrad Oblast of Russia, reducing demand for Estonian shale. Production gradually decreased until 1995, since which time production has increased again slightly.

Australia mined 4 million tonnes of oil shale between 1862 and 1952, when government support of mining ceased. Since the 1970s, oil companies have been exploring possible reserves. From 2000 to 2004 a demonstration-scale processing plant at the Stuart Deposit near Gladstone, Queensland produced over 1.5 million barrels of oil. The facility is now on care-and-maintenance in an operable condition, and the operator of the plant — Queensland Energy Resources — is conducting research and design studies for the next phase of its oil shale operations.

Brazil has produced oil from oil shales since 1935. Since 1954 Oil shale development has been the focus of a specific department with in Petrobras named, Superintendencia da Industrializaco do Xisto (SIX). Initially SIX focused on oil shales in the larger Paraíba formation but has now since since refocued development in the Irati shale. The pilot plant with a prototype oil-shale retort was started in 1972 before using Petrosix technology in 1982 and the commercial production started in 1992. The retort is able to produce approximatley 3,800 b/d and has to dat e produced more than 10.4 Million barrels of shale oil.

China has been mining oil shale since the 1920s near Fushun and Maoming. Russia has been mining its reserves since the 1930s. As most of Russian oil shale mines were closed on 1990s, the current production continues on a small-scale basis. Canada has produced some shale oil in mid of 1800s and in 1929-1930. Some experimental processing took place also in 1988.

The United States has seen some attempts at large-scale exploitation. Oil distilled from shale was first burnt for horticultural purposes in the 19th century, but it was not until the 1900s that larger investigations were made. The Office of Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves was established in 1912. The reserves were seen as a possible emergency source of fuel for the military, particularly the Navy. After World War II, the US Bureau of Mines opened a demonstration mine at Anvils Point, just west of Rifle, Colorado, which operated at a small-scale. In the early sixties TOSCO (The Oil Shale Corporation) opened an underground mine and built an experimental plant near Parachute, Colorado. It closed in the late sixties because the price of production exceeded the cost of imported crude oil. It was not until the oil crisis of the 1970s and the US becoming a net importer of oil that efforts at utilization were increased. Military uses were deemed less important and commercial exploitation came to the fore, with several oil companies investing. Unocal returned to the same area where TOSCO had worked. Several billion dollars were spent until declining oil prices rendered production uneconomical once more and Unocal withdrew in 1991. The oil shale development program was initiated in 2003 in support of President Bush’s National Energy Policy. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 introduced a commercial leasing program for oil shale and tar sands resources on public lands with an emphasis on the most geologically prospective lands within each of the states of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. The federal government currently owns 72% of all known oil shale in the United States.