OVERVIEW OF PROGRAM ON US–ESTONIAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COOPERATION ON OIL SHALE RESEARCH AND UTILIZATION (STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF OIL SHALE STUDIES FOR ESTONIA AND USA)

Abstract

Limitations on conventional petroleum resources are becoming well-known, and interest in unconventional hydrocarbon resources, especially oil shale and oil sands, is growing. The US and Estonia each contain vast quantities of unconventional oil shale resources. The Green River Formation deposits in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming contain more than 1,000 billion barrels of potentially recoverable kerogen oil. This amount is equivalent to the total world reserves of conventional petroleum and 50 times as much as the approximately 20 billion barrels of oil in the United States. There have been several attempts in the US to produce oil from this resource but none have survived to operate at an industrial scale. Oil shale has been commercially produced in Estonia for over eighty years, resulting in long-standing traditions and extensive experience. Because Estonia contains no petroleum reserves, oil shale is Estonia’s major energy resource. Approximately 65% of Estonia’s energy needs come from its oil shale resources, with the remainder being imported in the form of finished petroleum products and natural gas. Today, three industrial plants produce shale oil; but the full chemical and economical potential of the oil has yet to be developed. Only the water-soluble phenols, about 2% of oil, are used separately as chemical feed-stock.