Fossil fuel energy resources of Ethiopia: Oil shale deposits

Abstract

The energy crisis affects all countries in the world. Considering the price scenarios, many countries in Africa have begun to explore various energy resources. Ethiopia is one of the countries that depend upon imported petroleum products. To overcome this problem, geological studies suggest a significant occurrence of oil shale deposits in Ethiopia. The Inter-Trappean oil shale-bearing sediments are widely distributed on the South-Western Plateau of Ethiopia in the Delbi-Moye, Lalo-Sapo, Sola, Gojeb-Chida and Yayu Basins. The oil shale-bearing sediments were deposited in fluviatile and lacustrine environments. The oil shales contain mixtures of algal, herbaceous and higher plant taxa. They are dominated by algal-derived liptinite with minor amounts of vitrinite and inertinite. The algal remains belong to Botryococcus and Pediastrum. Laboratory results confirm that the Ethiopian oil shales are dominated by long-chain aliphatic hydrocarbons and have a low sulphur content. Type-II and Type-I kerogen dominated the studied oil shales. Type-II and Type-I are good source rocks for oil and gas generation. Hydrogen index versus T max value plots indicated that most of the oil shale samples fall within the immature-early mature stage for hydrocarbon generation, consistent with the Ro values that range from 0.3% to 0.64%. Pyrolysis data of the oil shales sensu stricto indicate excellent source rocks with up to 61.2% TOC values. Calorific value ranges from 400 to 6165 cal/g. Palynological studies confirmed that the oil shale-bearing sediments of Ethiopia range from Eocene to Miocene in age. A total of about 253,000,000 ton of oil shale is registered in the country. Oil shale deposits in Ethiopia can be used for production of oil and gas.