Enlightenment of American′s oil shale in-situ retorting technology

Oil shale is one of the most alternative energy except of coal, oil and natural gas. How to develop and use it, have attracted more and more attention in many countries. Taking into account issues such as environmental pollution, in-situ retorting technology has been the trend of large-scale commercialization of oil shale in the future. China has produced the oil shale for a long time, but all of them were developed by means of surface retorting, resulting in a technical gas of in-situ retorting. In order to promote the commercialization of oil shale in-situ retorting technology, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management initiated two oil shale development program and solicited applications for Research, Development and Demonstration(RDD) in the Green River Formation. This paper also introduces the latest progress of the pilot projects of the major oil companies in this region. By comparing and analyzing the Shell ICP technology, Chevron CRUSH technology, American Shale Oil company CCR technology, and ExxonMobil Electrofrac technology, not only expand the ideas for oil shale in-situ retorting technology, but also provide references for large-scale exploitation of unconventional oil and gas resources.