Fracturing Some Myths about Oil Shale

Dr. Jeremy Boak, Director Center for Oil Shale Technology and Research Colorado School of Mines June 19, 2012 Oil-shale, oil-bearing shale and gas shale

Oil shale, Shale oil

Oil-bearing shale, Shale-hosted oil

Gas shale, Shale gas

2 Shale composition is diverse

Carbonate Average Shale (1975) Bakken calcareous/ Barnett dolomitic L. Green River mudstone Chinese Oil Shale Polish Gas Shale siliceous/ Duvernay feldspathic Muskwa argillaceous marlstone marlstone Thailand oil shale L. Green River Basinal U. Green River Basinal Green River DP argillaceous Q+F=Clay mudstone Carbonate/Clastic

siliceous/feldspathic Quartz mudstone+ Clay Minerals Feldspar

3 Global Oil Shale Resource Estimates

11. Canada 13. Sweden 10. Estonia 15,241 million barrels 6,114 million barrels 16,286 million barrels 4. Russia 270,944 million barrels

1. Green River Formation 4,280,000 million barrels 15. Ukraine 4,193 million barrels

16. Kazakhstan 2,837 million barrels

3. China 328,000 million barrels

12. Thailand 2. Other United States 6,401 million barrels 619,000 million barrels

9. Australia 24,000 million barrels 8. Morocco 37,800 million barrels

Data Source: J. R. Dyni, Geology 17. Turkey and Resources of Some World Oil- 1,985 million barrels Shale Deposits, (2006) U. S. Geo- logical Survey Scientific Investigation Report 2005-5294, U. S. Geological 14. Egypt 7. Brazil 5. Israel 6. Jordan Survey, Reston VA 5,700 million barrels 80,000 million barrels 250,000 million barrels 102,000 million barrels Updates from 26th through 31st Oil Shale Symposia, Colorado School of Mines

4 Oil Shale Resources of Green River Formation

Greater Green River Basin 1.44 trillion barrels

Piceance Uinta Basin Basin 1.32 trillion 1.52 trillion barrels barrels

5 Colorado Federal land is the ballgame

3,000 Wyoming Non-Federal Wyoming Federal 2,500 Colorado Non-Federal Colorado Federal

2,000

Possible 1,500

(BBO) economic limit

1,000

500

Resource Richer than Cutoff YieldCutoffthanRicherResource U. S. Proved Reserves (21BBO) 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 Cutoff Yield (gal/ton)

6 Green River Formation oil shale resources

1600 Colorado CO Federal 1400 Wyoming 1200 WY Federal 1000

800

600

400

200 Resource (Billion Barrels of Oil) of Barrels (Billion Resource 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Cutoff grade (gallons/ton)

7 The Center for Oil Shale Technology & Research & The Colorado School of Mines 31sᵗ Oil Shale Symposium October 17-21, 2011 at the Cecil H. & Ida Green Center, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado

50 US Figure courtesy of 45 China Alan Burnham 40 Sweden 35 Brazil 30 Germany 25 Russia Scotland 20 Estonia 15

10 Mined Shale, Million tonnes Million Shale, Mined 5 0 Projected Global Oil Shale Production

225 Jordan 200

United States 175 China Sweden 150 Germany 125 Brazil 100 Russia 75 Scotland Estonia 50

Mined shale, million tonnes million shale, Mined 25 0 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020 Year Water Efficiency of Various Fuels

100

75

)

50

gal 25 20

15

10

5 Water Efficiency (mile/ Efficiency Water 0

Source: King, C. W., and M. E. Webber, (2008) Water Intensity of Transportation, Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 42, no. 21, p. 7866-7872 10 Relative Water Usage

1-3 barrels water per barrel of oil from oil shale Source: AMEC. Energy Development Water Needs Assessment, Phase II Final Report. Prepared for the Colorado River Basin Roundtable and the Yampa/White River Roundtable. January 2012.

11 Relative Water Usage

1-3 barrels water per barrel of oil from oil shale 4-8 barrels water per 2-liter bottle of sweetened cola Source: AMEC. Energy Development Water Needs Assessment, Source: Ercin et al., (2011) Water Resources Management 25:721–741 Phase II Final Report. Prepared for the Colorado River Basin Roundtable and the Yampa/White River Roundtable. January 2012.

12 COSTAR and the Oil Shale Symposium

• Center for Oil Shale Technology and Research (COSTAR) – ExxonMobil and Total members – Integrated Geological Framework & Rock Mechanics tasks – Open to new partners • http://www.costar-mines.org/ • 32nd Oil Shale Symposium – Symposium - October 15-17, 2012 – Field Trip – October 18-19, 2012

13 BACK-UP INFORMATION Green River Formation oil shale resources

3,000 Utah data not Wyoming Non-Federal available WY Federal 2,500 Colorado Non-Federal CO Federal 2,000 Current Economic Limit 2009 US crude reserves 1,500

1,000

Resource (billion barrels of oil) of barrels (billion Resource 500

0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Cutoff Yield (gal/ton) Definitions

Kerogen: a mixture of organic chemical compounds that make up a portion of the organic matter in sedimentary rocks. It is insoluble in normal organic solvents because of the huge molecular weight (upwards of 1,000 daltons) of its component compounds. The soluble portion is known as bitumen. When heated to the right temperatures in the Earth's crust, (oil window ca. 60–160 °C, gas window ca. 150–200 °C, both depending on how quickly the source rock is heated) some types of kerogen release crude oil or natural gas, collectively known as hydrocarbons (fossil fuels). When such kerogens are present in high concentration in rocks such as shale they form possible source rocks. Shales rich in kerogens that have not been heated to warm temperature to release their hydrocarbons may form oil shale deposits. The name "kerogen" was introduced by the Scottish organic chemist Alexander Crum Brown in 1912. – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerogen Definitions

• Oil shale: fine-grained immature organic-rich mudstone, marlstone and siltstone, commonly of lacustrine or marine origin • Shale oil: the liquid hydrocarbon produced by pyrolysis in a retort. – BEILBY, G. T. (1897) Thirty Years’ Development in the Shale Oil Industry. J. Soc. Chem. Ind., 18, 876886. – IRVINE, R. (1894) Shale Oil Industry. J. Soc. Chem. Ind., 13, 1039-1044. – TAYLOR, A. (1873) On Bitumen, Oil Shales and Oil Coals. Edinburgh Geol. Soc. Trans., 2, 187189. – VALENTINE, G. A. (1890) Carbonaceous Mineral or Oil Shale from Brazil. South Wales Inst, Eng. Proc., 17, 20-28. • Oil-bearing shale: fine-grained mature organic-rich mudstone, marlstone and siltstone that contain liquid hydrocarbons • Shale-hosted oil: oil produced from oil-bearing shale, generally through hydraulically fractured wells • Gas shale: fine-grained mature to overmature organic-rich mudstone, marlstone and siltstone that contain natural gas • Shale gas: gas produced from gas shale, generally through hydraulically fractured wells