Ikelic - Alliance Digital Repository

STATUS OF OIL SHALE PROJECTS (Underline denotes changes since June 1994)
COMMERCIAL PROJECTS (Continued)
Raw shale oil from the retort would require further treatment to produce a compatible oil refinery feedstock. Two
41,000 barrels per day upgrading plants are incorporated into the project design.
All aspects of infrastructure supporting such a project were studied, including water and power supplies, work force accom
modation, community services and product transportation. A 110 kilometer pipeline to the port of Mackay is favored for trans
fer of product oil from the plant site to marine tankers. The study indicated that there were no foreseeable infrastructure or
environmental issues which would impede development.
Market studies suggested that refiners in both Australia and Japan would place a premium on Condor shale oil of about US$4
per barrel over Arabian Light crude. Average cash operating cost at full production was estimated at US$20 per barrel of
which more than US$9 per barrel represents corporation taxes and royalty.
During July 1984 SPP, CPM, and JAOSCO signed an agreement with Japan Oil Shale Engineering Corporation (JOSECO).
JOSECO is a separate consortium of thirty-six Japanese companies established with the purpose of studying oil shale and
developing oil shale processing technology. Under the agreement, SPP/CPM mined 39,000 tons of oil shale from the Condor
deposit, crushed it to produce 20,000 tons and shipped it to Japan in late 1984.
JOSECO commissioned a 250 tonne per day pilot plant in Kyushu in early 1987. The Condor shale sample was processed satis
factorily in the pilot unit.
In 1988 SPP/CPM began studies to assess the feasibility of establishing a semi-commercial demonstration plant at
retorting
Condor similar to that being designed for the Stuart deposit. Samples of Condor shale were shipped to Canada for testing in
the Taciuk process.
Project Cost: $2.3 billion (mid-1983 U.S. dollars)
- ESPERANCE OIL SHALE PROJECT Esperance
Minerals NL and Greenvale Mining NL (S-70)
In 1991 Esperance Minerals and Greenvale Mining announced they are planning to produce 200,000 tons per year of
"asphaltine"
for bitumen from the Alpha torbanite deposit in Queensland, Australia. The two companies believe they can
produce bitumen that will sell for more than US$80 per barrel.
The Alpha field contains about 90 million barrels of reserves, but the shale in this deposit has a high yield of 88 to 132 gallons
of oil per ton of shale.
Recent studies have concluded that using new technologies to produce a bitumen-based product mix would be the most
economically beneficial. Byproducts could include diesel fuel and aromatics.
ESTONIA POWERPLANTS - Estonian
Republic (S-80)
Two oil shale-fueled powerplants, the Baltic with a capacity of 1,435 megawatts and the Estonian with a capacity of
1,600 megawatts, are in operation in the Estonia. These were the first of their kind to be put into operation.
About 95 percent of the oil shale output from the former USSR comes from Estonia and the Leningrad districts of Russia.
Half of the extracted oil shale comes from surface mines, the other half from underground workings. Each of the nine under
ground mines outputs 3,000 to 17,000 tons per day, each of the surface mines outputs 8,000 to 14,000 tons per day.
Exploitation of kukersite (Baltic oil shale) resources was begun by the Estonian government in 1918. In 1980, annual produc
tion of oil shale in the USSR reached 37 million tons of which 36 million tons come from the Baltic region. Recovered energy
from oil shale was equivalent to the energy in 49 million barrels of oil. Most extracted oil shale is used for power production
rather than oil recovery. In 1989, annual production of oil shale in the Baltic region was as low as 28 million tons. In 1993. an
nual production of oil shale in Estonia was 16.5 million tons. About 10 million tons were extracted from six underground
mines and about 9 million tons from three open pit mines. The annual output from the underground mines ranged from
600,000 to 4.3 million tons, while the output from the surface mines ranged from 2.0 to 4.3 million tons. The recovered energy
from this oil shale was the energy equivalent of 25 million barrels of oil.
Most extracted oil shale (85 percent) is used for power production rather than oil recovery. More than 60 percent of Estonia's
thermal energy demand is met by the use of oil shale. Fuel gas production was terminated in 1987.
Pulverized oil shale ash is being used in the cement industry and for acid soil melioration.
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SYNTHETIC FUELS REPORT. JANUARY 1995