Oil Shale in Upper Egypt and it’s Economics

Abstract The term oil shale generally refers to any sedimentary rock that contains solid bituminous materials (called kerogen) that are released as petroleum-like liquids when the rock is heated in the chemical process of pyrolysis. Oil shale was formed millions of years ago by deposition of silt and organic debris on lake beds and sea bottoms. Over long periods of time, heat and pressure transformed the materials into oil shale in a process similar to the process that forms oil; however, the heat and pressure were not as great. Oil shale generally contains enough oil that it will burn without any additional processing, and it is known as “the rock that burns”. Oil shale can be mined and processed to generate oil similar to oil pumped from conventional oil wells; however, extracting oil from oil shale is more complex than conventional oil recovery and currently is more expensive. The oil substances in oil shale are solid and cannot be pumped directly out of the ground. The oil shale must first be mined and then heated to a high temperature (a process called retorting); the resultant liquid must then be separated and collected. An alternative but currently experimental process referred to as in situ retorting involves heating the oil shale while it is still underground, and then pumping the resulting liquid to the surface. This work focus on oil shale as energy resource unused in Egypt with about 8 billion bbl oil reserves, require a new technology, not existed in Egypt with high operating costs. It answers the following questions: is the conditions and oil price suitable for start-up of oil shale project in Egypt to be accepted by Ganope (Holding company related to the Egyptian ministery of petroleum) and the investor. If not, what is the minimum oil price required for the project to be attractive, with which concession agreement terms.