Page 187 - Synthetic Fuels Handbook

FUELS FROM OIL SHALE 173

TABLE 6.2 Estimate of Oil Shale Reserves (million metric tons)

Region Shale reserves Kerogen reserves Kerogen in place
Africa 12,373 500 5,900
Asia 20,570 1,100 –
Australia 32,400 1,700 37,000
Europe 54,180 600 12,000
Middle East 35,360 4,600 24,000
North America 3,340,000 80,000 140,000
South America – 400 10,000
Source: World Energy Council. 2004. WEC Survey of Energy Resources. London, England.
To convert metric ton to barrels, multiply by 7 indicating approximately 620 billion barrels of
known recoverable kerogen, which has been estimated to be capable of producing 2,600 billion bar-
rels of shale oil. This compares with 1,200 billion barrels of known worldwide petroleum reserves
(Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy, 2006 ).
of enormous size that occupy thousands of square miles and contain many billions of bar-
rels of potentially extractable shale oil. Total world resources of oil shale are conservatively
estimated at 2.6 trillion barrels. However, petroleum-based crude oil is cheaper to produce
today than shale oil because of the additional costs of mining and extracting the energy
from oil shale. Because of these higher costs, only a few deposits of oil shale are cur-
rently being exploited in China, Brazil, and Estonia. However, with the continuing decline
of petroleum supplies, accompanied by increasing costs of petroleum-based products, oil
shale presents opportunities for supplying some of the fossil energy needs of the world in
the years ahead.

6.2 HISTORY

The use of oil shale can be traced back to ancient times. By the seventeenth century, oil
shale was being exploited in several countries. As early as 1637, alum shale was roasted
over wood fires to extract potassium aluminum sulfate, a salt used in tanning leather and
for fixing colors in fabrics. The modern use of oil shale to produce oil dates to Scotland
in the 1850s. In 1847 Dr James Young prepared lighting oil, lubricating oil, and wax from
coal. Then he moved his operations to Edinburgh where oil shale deposits were found.
In 1850 he patented the process of cracking the oil into its constituent parts. Oil from oil
shale was produced in that region from 1857 until 1962 when production was cancelled
due to the much lower cost of petroleum. Late in the 1800s, oil shale was being retorted on
a small-scale for hydrocarbon production and this was terminated in 1966 because of the
availability of cheaper supplies of petroleum crude oil.
Estonia first used oil shale as a low-grade fuel in 1838 after attempts to distill oil from
the material failed. However it was not exploited until fuel shortages during World War I.
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 1400 MW plant in 1965 and a 1600 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 in the nearby in Leningrad Oblast of
Russia, reducing demand for Estonian shale. Production gradually decreased until 1995,
since when production has increased again albeit only slightly. In 1999 the country used