Oil Shale Development Timeline

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The phases of development of a commercial oil shale industry can be broken into three stages: exploration, field-testing, and commercial production.

This diagram, based on a recent Department of Energy report profiling current activity in oil shale development, shows that the majority of current oil shale development remains in the very early stages. While a handful of companies reported being active in the field-testing of new technologies in 2009, only one company had announced plans to upscale to a prototype (semi-works scale) facility. Click here for maps showing the location of oil shale deposits (external web site).

Our 2010 update to "Oil Shale in the West: 14 Unanswered Questions" provides more information on the landscape of existing oil shale development activities. You may also download this graphic as a printable pdf.

Headwaters Economics
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Banner photo is large weathered oil shale sample showing bedding planes and fissures. Uinta Basin, Utah. Source: Argonne National Laboratory.