Nonconventional Oil from Shales - Potential Recovery Methods and Economics of Recovery from Oil from Rich, Mature Source Rocks

Eppink, Jeffrey¹, Robert Ferguson², Vello Kuuskraa³, Keith Moodhe² (1) Advanced Resources International, Inc, Arlington, VA (2) N/A, N/A, (3) Advanced Resources International, Arlington, VA

Non-conventional oil, in our definition, includes deep heavy oil (not recoverable with traditional steam injection methods), tar sands (oil sands) immobile residual oil left after traditional recovery (both in the main pay and residual oil zones), and mature oil in tight shale formations. (Oil shale, consisting of thermally immature kerogen, is a resource classification of its own.) A common feature of each of these non-conventional oil deposits is the need for significant advances in technology for their efficient recovery. A significant subset of nonconventional oils, oil from shales, is an emerging resource that is receiving increasing attention. Oil from shales is recovered from self-sourced, rich, mature source rocks in the general absence of an oil-water contact.