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At what price is oil shale profitable?

At what price is oil shale profitable?

In top two U.S. shale fields, oil and gas companies are profitable in the $30 per barrel to low $40s per barrel range, according to data firm Rystad Energy. This year’s higher prices could push the shale group’s cash from operations up by 32%, Rystad said.

Is oil shale extraction expensive?

The production cost of a barrel of shale oil ranges from as high as US$95 per barrel to as low US$25 per barrel, although there is no recent confirmation of the latter figure.

What are the disadvantages of oil shale?

Surface mining of oil shale deposits causes the usual environmental impacts of open-pit mining. In addition, the combustion and thermal processing generate waste material, which must be disposed of, and harmful atmospheric emissions, including carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas.

Is it economically feasible to extract oil from oil shale?

The economic feasibility of oil shale extraction is highly dependent on the price of conventional oil; if the price of crude oil per barrel is less than the production price per barrel of oil shale, it is uneconomic.

What’s the price of a barrel of shale oil?

According to the New Policies Scenario introduced in its World Energy Outlook 2010, a price of $50 per tonne of emitted CO 2, expected by 2035, will add additional $7.50 per barrel cost of shale oil.

How big are the oil shale reserves in the US?

Oil shale deposits range from small presently economically unrecoverable to large potentially recoverable resources. Defining oil shale reserves is difficult, as the chemical composition of different oil shales, as well as their kerogen content and extraction technologies, vary significantly.

What is the EROEI of an oil shale well?

Due to technically more complex processes, the EROEI for oil shale is below the EROEI of about 20:1 for conventional oil extraction at the wellhead. A 1984 study estimated the EROEI of the different oil shale deposits to vary between 0.7–13.3:1.