History of the oil shale industry

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 1596, the personal physician of Duke Frederick of Württemburg noted that a mineral oil distilled from oil shale could be used in healing. In 1637, Swedish alum shale of Cambrian and Ordovician age was used for extracting potassium aluminum sulfate. In 1694, British Crown Patent No. 330 on oil shale extraction was granted. About same time, oil produced by the distillation of oil shale was used to light the streets of Modena, Italy.

The modern industrial use of oil shale for oil extraction dates to the mid-19th century. In 1837 oil shale mining began at the Autun mines in France. 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. The commercial oil extraction in Scotland started in 1857, and approximately at the same time the development of oil shale industry started in Germany. At the second half of the 19th century the shale oil extraction started also in Sweden, Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. The first oil shale retort was constructed in the United States in 1855, but because of crude oil discovery in Pennsylvania, the Unites States' and Canada's oils shale industries were shut down by 1861.

The second wave of oil shale industry started just before the World War I. The Office of Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves of the United States was established in 1912. The reserves were seen as a possible emergency source of fuel for the military, particularly the Navy. In 1915 the oil shale industry started in Switzerland and in 1918 in Estonia. Between the World Wars oil shale industry also took off in Spain, China, Russia and South Africa, and restarted in Brazil and for a short period in Canada.

After the World War II, the oil shale industry was phased-out in several countries because of high processing costs and the discovery of large supplies of easily accessible crude oil. The low cost of conventional oil made shale oil production uneconomic. In 1950s-1960s, the industry was closed in France, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Scotland and South Africa, while in Germany only Rohrbach Zement in Dotternhausen continued using oil shale for cement, power and thermal energy production, and in Sweden the extraction of alum shale for uranium and vanadium production remained until 1989. At the same time, the oil shale production in Estonia, Russia and China continued to growth. 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. The worlds's two largest oil shale-fired power stations were opened correspondingly in 1965 and in 1973. Estonian oil shale production peaked in 1980 at 31.35 million tonnes. The United States 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 was closed in 1972 because the price of production exceeded the cost of imported crude oil.

Due the 1973 oil crisis, oil shale industry was restarted in several countries. In 1974 the United States Department of the Interior announced an oil shale leasing program in the oil shale regions of Colorado and Utah on. By the early 1980s, almost all of the major oil companies had established oil shale pilot projects. The United States oil shale industry collapsed, when on 2 May 1982, known as "Black Sunday," Exxon announced the termination of its Colony Oil Shale Project near Parachute. In 1980s the oil shale production decreased also in Estonia due the reduced oil shale demand by power generation industry. Most of Russian oil shale mines were closed on 1990s and the production continued only on a small-scale basis.

The global oil shale industry started to increase slightly in mid of 1990s. In 1992 the commercial shale oil production started in Brazil using Petrosix technology. Estonian oil shale production has continuously increased since 1995. In Australia, a demonstration-scale processing plant at the Stuart Deposit near Gladstone, Queensland produced over 1.5 million barrels of oil in 2000-2004. 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. In the United States, 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.

See also

• Oil shale industry
• Oil shale extraction
• Oil shale reserves