Oil Shale and Tar Sands The United States holds more than half the world’s oil shale, a fine-grained sedimentary rock containing organic matter from which petroleum products may be distilled. Although it has long been seen as a potential source of secure, reliable, and affordable energy, the technology to produce oil from oil shale in commercial quantities has been elusive. Oil shales and tar sands are oil-rich rock formations which occur in every continent of the world and are especially abundant in the US and Canada and elsewhere.. They are usually not associated with the other fossil fuels - coal and conventional oil - though they do occur in related sedimentary formations and, like coal and oil, arise from the accumulation of organic debris. Oil sands, also known as "tar sands," are sediments or sedimentary rocks composed of sand, clay minerals, water, and bitumen. The oil is in the form of bitumen, a very heavy liquid or sticky black solid with a low melting temperature. Bitumen typically makes up about 5 to 15% of the deposit. Tar sands is made when a very thick substance called bitumen is mixed with clay and sand. Oil shale is made when a waxy substance called kerogen is mixed with shale. Tar sands (also called oil sands) are a mixture of sand, clay, water, and bitumen. [1] Bitumen is a thick, sticky, black oil that can form naturally in a variety of ways, usually when lighter oil is degraded by bacteria. [2] Bitumen has long been used in waterproofing materials for buildings, Tar sands (also known as oil sands) are a mixture of mostly sand, clay, water, and a thick, molasses-like substance called bitumen. Bitumen is made of hydrocarbons—the same molecules in liquid oil—and is used to produce gasoline and other petroleum products. Oil sands are found worldwide, from Canada to Venezuela and, as you might imagine, in the Middle East. Alberta, Canada, has a booming oil-sand industry -- as many 1 million barrels of synthetic oil are produced there every day, 40 percent of which comes from oil sands [source: Oil Shale & Tar Sands Programmatic EIS Information Center].
The key difference between the shale and the oil sands is that oil sands are mining operations with high up-front costs and a very long-lived resource base. The shale typically has much lower up Tar sands (also known as oil sands) are a mixture of mostly sand, clay, water, and a thick, molasses-like substance called bitumen. Bitumen is made of hydrocarbons—the same molecules in liquid oil—and is used to produce gasoline and other petroleum products. Tar pits are better known as oil sands, tar sands and bituminous sands, and they aren't only of interest to scientists -- they're also of great interest to energy companies. But just like the name suggests, this black gold doesn't gush from a geyser; it's actually in the sand itself.
27 Mar 2013 The Programmatic EIS summarized information on oil shale and tar sands technologies and their potential environmental and socio-economic 10 Dec 2012 Pay Dirt: How to Turn Tar Sands into Oil [Slide Show] the development of lighter, cheaper oil in places such as North Dakota's Bakken Shale.
6 Nov 2019 The Tell Ertl Oil Shale Repository was established in 1989 by the Tell of America's Oil Shale and Tar Sands Industries; Strategic Significance 1 Jun 2007 Oil Shale and Tar Sands Company Profiles: Companies Investing Today to Advance. Technology to Provide Clean Secure Fuels for Tomorrow oil sands (aka tar sands) and oil shale. How- ever, obtaining usable oil from oil sands or oil shale is more capital-intensive and more expensive than obtaining 27 Mar 2013 The Programmatic EIS summarized information on oil shale and tar sands technologies and their potential environmental and socio-economic 10 Dec 2012 Pay Dirt: How to Turn Tar Sands into Oil [Slide Show] the development of lighter, cheaper oil in places such as North Dakota's Bakken Shale.
oil sands (aka tar sands) and oil shale. How- ever, obtaining usable oil from oil sands or oil shale is more capital-intensive and more expensive than obtaining