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oil shale
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oil shale
oil shale Kuskerite (oil shale) outcrop that dates to the Ordovician Period, northern Estonia.

oil shale

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Also known as: Kuskerite, bituminous shale, kerogen shale, kerogenite
Written by
Gordon I. Atwater
Founder and Senior Member, Atwater, Cowan, Carter, Miller, and Heffner (geological and petroleum consultants), New Orleans.
Gordon I. Atwater,
Joseph P. Riva
Specialist in Earth Sciences (geologist), Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Author of World Petroleum Resources and Reserves and others.
Joseph P. Riva•All
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oil shale, any sedimentary rock containing various amounts of solid organic material that yields petroleum products, along with a variety of solid by-products, when subjected to pyrolysis—a treatment that consists of heating the rock to above 300 °C (about 575 °F) in the absence of oxygen. The liquid oil extracted from oil shale, once it is upgraded, creates a type of synthetic crude oil that is commonly referred to as shale oil. Oil produced from oil shales has potential commercial value in some of the same markets served by conventional crude oil, as it can be refined into products ranging ...(100 of 5101 words)

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