 Shell's experimental in-situ oil shale facility, Piceance Basin, Colorado. | |
| Process type | chemical |
|---|---|
| Industrial sector(s) | chemical industry, oil industry |
| Feedstock | oil shale |
| Product(s) | shale oil |
| Leading companies | Shell Oil Company |
| Main facilities | Mahogany Research Project |
| Developer(s) | Shell Oil Company |
The Shell in situ conversion process (Shell ICP) is an in situ shale oil extraction technology to convert kerogen in oil shale to shale oil. It is developed by the Shell Oil Company.
Shell's in situ conversion process has been under development since the early 1980s. [1] In 1997, the first small scale test was conducted on the 30-by-40-foot (9.1 by 12.2 m) Mahogany property test site, located 200 miles (320 km) west of Denver on Colorado's Western Slope in the Piceance Creek Basin. Since 2000, additional research and development activities have carried on as a part of the Mahogany Research Project. [2] The oil shale heating at Mahogany started early 2004. [3] From this test site, Shell has recovered 1,700 barrels (270 m3) of shale oil. [4] [5]
The process heats sections of the vast oil shale field in situ, releasing the shale oil and oil shale gas from the rock so that it can be pumped to the surface and made into fuel. In this process, a freeze wall is first to be constructed to isolate the processing area from surrounding groundwater. [1] To maximize the functionality of the freeze walls, adjacent working zones will be developed in succession. 2,000 feet (610 m) wells, eight feet apart, are drilled and filled with a circulating super-chilled liquid to cool the ground to −60 °F (−50 °C). [4] [6] [7] Water is then removed from the working zone. Heating and recovery wells are drilled at 40 feet (12 m) intervals within the working zone. Electrical heating elements are lowered into the heating wells and used to heat oil shale to between 650 °F (340 °C) and 700 °F (370 °C) over a period of approximately four years. [2] [6] Kerogen in oil shale is slowly converted into shale oil and gases, which then flow to the surface through recovery wells. [4] [6]
A RAND study in 2005 estimated that production of 100,000 barrels per day (16,000 m3/d) of oil (5.4 million tons/year) would theoretically require a dedicated power generating capacity of 1.2 gigawatts (10 billion kWh/year), assuming deposit richness of 25 US gallons (95 l; 21 imp gal) per ton, with 100% pyrolysis efficiency, and 100% extraction of pyrolysis products. [1] If this amount of electricity were to be generated by a coal-fired power plant, it would consume five million ton of coal annually (about 2.2 million toe). [8]
In 2006, Shell estimated that over the project life cycle, for every unit of energy consumed, three to four units would be produced. [4] [6] Such an "energy returned on energy invested" would be significantly better than that achieved in the Mahogany trials. For the 1996 trial, Shell applied 440,000 kWh (which would require about 96 toe energy input in a coal-fired plant), to generate 250 barrels (40 m3) of oil (37 toe output). [9]
Shell's underground conversion process requires significant development on the surface. The separation between drilled wells is less than five meters and wells must be connected by electrical wiring and by piping to storage and processing facilities. Shell estimates that the footprint of extraction operations would be similar to that for conventional oil and gas drilling. [4] [6] However, the dimensions of Shell's 2005 trial indicate that a much larger footprint is required. Production of 50,000 bbl/day would require that land be developed at a rate on the order of 1 square kilometre (0.39 sq mi) per year. [10]
Extensive water use and the risk of groundwater pollution are the technology's greatest challenges. [11]
In 2006, Shell received a Bureau of Land Management lease to pursue a large demonstration with a capacity of 1,500 barrels per day (240 m3/d); Shell has since dropped those plans and is planning a test based on ICP that would produce a total of minimum 1,500 barrels (240 m3), together with nahcolite, over a seven-year period. [12] [13]
In Israel, IEI, a subsidiary of IDT Corp. is planning a shale pilot based on ICP technology. The project would produce a total of 1,500 barrels. However, IEI has also announced that any subsequent projects would not use ICP technology, but would instead utilize horizontal wells and hot gas heating methods. [14]
In Jordan, Shell subsidiary JOSCO plans to use ICP technology to achieve commercial production by the "late 2020s." [15] In October, 2011, it was reported that JOSCO had drilled more than 100 test holes over the prior two years, apparently for the sake of testing shale samples. [16]
The Mahogany Oil Shale Project has been abandoned by Shell in 2013 due to unfavorable project economics [17]
Oil shale is an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general composition of oil shales constitutes inorganic substance and bitumens. Based on their deposition environment, oil shales are classified as marine, lacustrine and terrestrial oil shales. Oil shales differ from oil-bearing shales, shale deposits that contain petroleum that is sometimes produced from drilled wells. Examples of oil-bearing shales are the Bakken Formation, Pierre Shale, Niobrara Formation, and Eagle Ford Formation. Accordingly, shale oil produced from oil shale should not be confused with tight oil, which is also frequently called shale oil.
Peak oil is the moment at which extraction of petroleum reaches a rate greater than that at any time in the past and starts to permanently decrease. It is related to the distinct concept of oil depletion; while global petroleum reserves are finite, the limiting factor is not whether the oil exists but whether it can be extracted economically at a given price. A secular decline in oil extraction could be caused both by depletion of accessible reserves and by reductions in demand that reduce the price relative to the cost of extraction, as might be induced to reduce carbon emissions.
Unconventional oil is petroleum produced or extracted using techniques other than the conventional method. Industry and governments across the globe are investing in unconventional oil sources due to the increasing scarcity of conventional oil reserves. Unconventional oil and gas have already made a dent in international energy linkages by reducing US energy import dependency.
Shale oil is an unconventional oil produced from oil shale rock fragments by pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or thermal dissolution. These processes convert the organic matter within the rock (kerogen) into synthetic oil and gas. The resulting oil can be used immediately as a fuel or upgraded to meet refinery feedstock specifications by adding hydrogen and removing impurities such as sulfur and nitrogen. The refined products can be used for the same purposes as those derived from crude oil.
Oil shale geology is a branch of geologic sciences which studies the formation and composition of oil shales–fine-grained sedimentary rocks containing significant amounts of kerogen, and belonging to the group of sapropel fuels. Oil shale formation takes place in a number of depositional settings and has considerable compositional variation. Oil shales can be classified by their composition or by their depositional environment. Much of the organic matter in oil shales is of algal origin, but may also include remains of vascular land plants. Three major type of organic matter (macerals) in oil shale are telalginite, lamalginite, and bituminite. Some oil shale deposits also contain metals which include vanadium, zinc, copper, and uranium.
The oil shale industry is an industry of mining and processing of oil shale—a fine-grained sedimentary rock, containing significant amounts of kerogen, from which liquid hydrocarbons can be manufactured. The industry has developed in Brazil, China, Estonia and to some extent in Germany and Russia. Several other countries are currently conducting research on their oil shale reserves and production methods to improve efficiency and recovery. Estonia accounted for about 70% of the world's oil shale production in a study published in 2005.
Shale oil extraction is an industrial process for unconventional oil production. This process converts kerogen in oil shale into shale oil by pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or thermal dissolution. The resultant shale oil is used as fuel oil or upgraded to meet refinery feedstock specifications by adding hydrogen and removing sulfur and nitrogen impurities.
Oil shale economics deals with the economic feasibility of oil shale extraction and processing. Although usually oil shale economics is understood as shale oil extraction economics, the wider approach evaluates usage of oil shale as whole, including for the oil-shale-fired power generation and production of by-products during retorting or shale oil upgrading processes.
The Piceance Basin is a geologic structural basin in northwestern Colorado, in the United States. It includes geologic formations from Cambrian to Holocene in age, but the thickest section is made up of rocks from the Cretaceous Period. The basin contains reserves of coal, natural gas, and oil shale. The name likely derives from the Shoshoni word /piasonittsi/ meaning “tall grass”.
The American Shale Oil, LLC (AMSO), originally known as EGL Oil Shale, LLC, was a developer of in-situ shale oil extraction technology based in Rifle, Colorado. It was owned by Genie Energy and Total S.A. In May 2016, Genie Energy announced that the AMSO project was closing.
The TOSCO II process is an above ground retorting technology for shale oil extraction, which uses fine particles of oil shale that are heated in a rotating kiln. The particularity of this process is that it use hot ceramic balls for the heat transfer between the retort and a heater. The process was tested in a 40 tonnes per hour test facility near Parachute, Colorado.
Colony Shale Oil Project was an oil shale development project at the Piceance Basin near Parachute Creek, Colorado. The project consisted of an oil shale mine and pilot-scale shale oil plant, which used the TOSCO II retorting technology, developed by Tosco Corporation. Over time the project was developed by a consortium of different companies until it was terminated by Exxon on 2 May 1982 a day which is known amongst locals as "Black Sunday".
Chevron CRUSH is an experimental in situ shale oil extraction technology to convert kerogen in oil shale to shale oil. The name stands for Chevron's Technology for the Recovery and Upgrading of Oil from Shale. It is developed jointly by Chevron Corporation and the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
ExxonMobil Electrofrac is an in situ shale oil extraction technology proposed by ExxonMobil for converting kerogen in oil shale to shale oil.
The Superior multimineral process is an above ground shale oil extraction technology designed for production of shale oil, a type of synthetic crude oil. The process heats oil shale in a sealed horizontal segmented vessel (retort) causing its decomposition into shale oil, oil shale gas and spent residue. The particularities of this process is a recovery of saline minerals from the oil shale, and a doughnut-shape of the retort. The process is suitable for processing of mineral-rich oil shales, such as in the Piceance Basin. It has a relatively high reliability and high oil yield. The technology was developed by the American oil company Superior Oil.
The Union process was an above ground shale oil extraction technology for production of shale oil, a type of synthetic crude oil. The process used a vertical retort where heating causes decomposition of oil shale into shale oil, oil shale gas and spent residue. The particularity of this process is that oil shale in the retort moves from the bottom upward to the top, countercurrent to the descending hot gases, by a mechanism known as a rock pump. The process technology was invented by the American oil company Unocal Corporation in late 1940s and was developed through several decades. The largest oil shale retort ever built was the Union B type retort.
Omnishale process is an in situ shale oil extraction technology to convert kerogen in oil shale to shale oil. This process is classified as an externally generated hot gas technology. The technology is developed by General Synfuels International, a subsidiary of Earth Search Sciences.
Genie Energy Ltd. is an American energy company headquartered in Newark, New Jersey. It is a holding company comprising Genie Retail Energy, Genie Retail Energy International, Genie Energy Services, and Genie Energy Oil and Gas. Michael Stein is the Chief Executive Officer, Genie Energy Ltd.
Oil shale in Morocco represents a significant potential resource. The ten known oil shale deposits in Morocco contain over 53.381 billion barrels of shale oil. Although Moroccan oil shale has been studied since the 1930s and several pilot plants have extracted shale oil from the local formations, commercial extraction was not underway as of 2011.
The history of the oil shale industry in the United States goes back to the 1850s; it dates back farther as a major enterprise than the petroleum industry. But although the United States contains the world's largest known resource of oil shale, the US has not been a significant producer of shale oil since 1861. There were three major past attempts to establish an American oil shale industry: the 1850s; in the years during and after World War I; and in the 1970s and early 1980s. Each time, the oil shale industry failed because of competition from cheaper petroleum.
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