Oil Shale is not Shale Oil (independence, compared, 2013, billion)

[ca_north]

Anyone who's tired of scarcity-deniers hyping America's supposed "Saudia Arabia" worth of oil should read these and similar articles. I find this to be a common misconception that causes apathy about oil scarcity and the need for conservation.

Basic Oil Shale Facts - Western Resource Advocates
The Difference Between Oil Shale and Shale Oil - The Energy Report
http://www.coga.org/pdf_Basics/Basics_OilShale.pdf (note industry hype; projects keep getting abandoned)
http://trib.com/opinion/columns/oil-...aff12216c.html (points out the futility of kerogen so far)

"SHALE OIL" = liquid oil drawn from shale formations with tight pores, e.g. Bakken ND, Eagle Ford TX and a few other producing areas. Oil-bearing shale is the proper term. This oil can be fracked and comes out of the ground in liquid form. But when you study its total recoverable reserves (e.g. 7.4 billion barrels in the Bakken per 2013 USGS report) you'll see that it's a short-lived resource when compared to the 20 mbpd of U.S. oil consumption. Fracked tight oil is not U.S. "energy independence." It's just a bump on the total Peak Oil curve. People fail to do the math, confusing shale "oil in place" with recoverable reserves.

"OIL SHALE" = kerogen, which needs to be cooked to about 932 degrees Fahrenheit to produce usable oil, rendering its ERoEI very low, if practical at all. It also does a major number on the landscape and water supply. But kerogen is what's being hyped as our biggest "shale oil" resource by people who won't bother to study geology.

Please learn the difference between these distinct types of oil, and stop wasting fuel with false pride.

[lvoc]

I am under the impression that natural gas is the major product coming from fracking. Then some oil out of ND and TX. I am also under the impression this is a substantial quantity but for a few decades not centuries.

Do I have this wrong?

I would think dealing with open pit mining of Shale will be similar to the oil sands of Alberta. That wrong?

What message is it you are trying to deliver?

[Troyfan]

Oil shale, shale oil, shoil ale, it can all be recovered as experience with fracking keeps improving extraction methods. Right now, price have collapsed because fracking has put so much new supply on the market and demand has not grown. But eventually current supplies will be used up, prices will rise, and more expensive sources will be tapped.

The supply of oil must ultimately be limited by the earth's volume, minus water and other compounds. Other than that, nothing can be said about it.