T OPIC P APER #27
OIL SHALES
On July 18, 2007, The National Petroleum Council (NPC) in approving its report, Facing the Hard Truths about Energy, also approved the making available of certain materials ud in the study process, including detailed, specific subject matter papers prepared or ud by the Task Groups and their Subgroups. The Topic Papers were working documents that were part of the analys that led to development of the summary results prented in the report’s Executive Summary and Chapters.
The Topic Papers reprent the views and conclusions of the authors. The National Petroleum Council has not endord or approved the statements and conclusions contained in the documents but approved the publication of the materials as part of the study process.
The NPC believes that the papers will be of interest to the readers of the report and will help them better understand the results. The materials are being made available in the interest of transparency.
雅思培训The attached Topic Paper is one of 38 such working document ud in the study analys. Also included is a roster of the Subgroup that developed or submitted this paper. Appendix E of the final NP
C report provides a complete list of the 38 Topic Papers and an abstract for each. The printed final report volume contains a CD that includes pdf files of all papers. The papers also can be viewed and downloaded from the report ction of the NPC website (www.npc).
NATIONAL PETROLEUM COUNCIL
OIL SHALES AND HYDRATES SUBGROUP
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OF THE
TECHNOLOGY TASK GROUP
OF THE
NPC COMMITTEE ON GLOBAL OIL AND GAS
TEAM LEADER
Robert L. Kleinberg
Schlumberger Fellow
Schlumberger-Doll Rearch
MEMBERS
Edith C. Allison
Physical Scientist
Office of Future Oil and Gas Resources U.S. Department of Energy
Timothy S. Collett
Rearch Geologist
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U.S. Geological Survey
Robert A. Hardage
Senior Rearch Scientist
for freeBureau of Economic Geology
The University of Texas Stephen A. Holditch
Noble Endowed Chair and
Head of the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering
Texas A&M University
James J. Howard
Principal Scientist
ConocoPhillips
E. Dendy Sloan, Jr.
Weaver Endowed Chair in一年级数学思维训练
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Chemical Engineering
Colorado School of Mines
Oil Shale
Team leader: R. Kleinberg
Date submitted: 29 December 2006
I. Executive Summary
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Oil shale compris a host rock and kerogen. Kerogen is organic matter that has not gone through the “oil window” of elevated temperature and pressure necessary to generate conventional light oil. Kerogen has a high hydrogen-to-carbon ratio, giving it the potential to be superior to heavy oil or coal as a source of liquid fuel. Globally, it is estimated that there are roughly 3 trillion barrels of shale oil in place, which is comparable to the original world endowment of conventional oil. About half of this immen total is to be found near the common borders of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado, where much of the resource occurs at a saturation of more than 25 gallons of product per ton of ore (about 10% by weight) in beds that are 30 m to 300 m thick. Like heavy oil rervoirs, oil shales are found near the surface, ranging from outcrops down to about 1,000 m.
In the past, the most common production technology has been surface mining, followed by processin
g in above-ground retorts. Process temperatures are about 500°C, which converts kerogen to oil in about an hour. This approach has the virtue of simplicity, but requires expensive surface facilities, and the disposal of vast quantities of spent rock. Both have significant economic and environmental problems. Moreover, raw product quality is poor compared to conventional crude oil; however upgrading using conventional hydroprocessing techniques yields high-quality finished products.
derwentThe mining + retort method is an old approach that could benefit from new technology. Improved methods for spent shale remediation would clearly make this approach more acceptable. Improved retorting methods are also a priority.
Innovations that allowed oil shale to be procesd at lower temperature without an increa in reaction time would result in improved economics and improved product quality.
An alternative process still in development, in situ conversion, has captured the industry’s attention. Wells are drilled, and the oil shale rervoir is slowly heated to about 350°C, at which point kerogen is converted to oil and gas on a time scale of months. Using an in situ conversion process at pilot scale, Shell has extracted a good quality, middle-distillate refinery feedstock, requiring no further upgrading. In order to contain nascent fluids, and to prevent ingress of ground water into the reaction
morningsidezone, Shell generates a freeze wall around the production area. Chevron has propod a simpler technique that takes advantage of the low hydraulic permeability of oil shale formations to isolate heated process volumes from surrounding aquifers.
Since in situ conversion technology is just emerging, it is not yet clear which specific technologies can advance the state of the art over the coming decades. However, the efficient u of heat is almost certain to be an important issue. The ability to map the temperature and the saturation of generated oil and gas throughout the rervoir would enable advanced control strategies. It will also be uful to monitor the freeze wall or low permeability barrier, to ensure that there is no fluid mixing between the reaction zone and surrounding formations.
As a domestic source of transportation fuel, oil shale could compete with heavy oil and coal-derived liquids. Oil shale, heavy oil, and coal are all abundant in North America. Canadian tar sand production is already commercial. Coal can be treated with coal-derived solvents and gaous hydrogen at high temperature to produce high grade synthetic crude. An advantage of oil shale is that it has the potential to produce a superior liquid-fuel product. However, the direct and indirect costs of fuel production from oil shale have not yet been fully evaluated.
II. Overview of Methodology
Recent reports on oil shale rearch and development
“Survey of Energy Resources: Oil Shale,” World Energy Council (2001). “Strategic Significance of America’s Oil Shale Resource,” Department of Energy (March 2004).
“America’s Oil Shale: A Roadmap for Federal Decision Making,” Department of Energy (December 2004).
“Resources to Rerves: Oil & Gas Technologies for the Energy Markets of the Future,” International Energy Agency (2005).
“Oil Shale Development in the United States,” RAND Corporation (2005).
“Oil Shale: History, Incentives, and Policy,” Congressional Rearch Service (April 2006).
“Geology and Resources of Some World Oil Shale Deposits,” Scientific Investigations Report 2005-5294, U.S. Geological Survey (June 2006).
Shell test project reports
Submissions to Bureau of Land Management, reports available at
•“Plan of Operations: Oil Shale Test Project,” Shell Frontier Oil and Gas Inc. (15 February 2006).
•“Environmental Asssment: Shell Oil Shale Rearch, Development & Demonstration Projects, Rio Blanco County, Colorado, August 2006.”
Chevron test project reports
Submissions to Bureau of Land Management, reports available at
可行性分析英文
•“Plan of Operations: Oil Shale Rearch, Development & Demonstration Project,” Chevron USA (15 February 2006). Available at
