Editing Oil shale (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of the oil shale industry}}

[[File:Production of oil shale.png|thumb|350px|right|Production of oil shale in millions of metric tons, from 1880 to 2010. Source: Pierre Allix, Alan K. Burnham.<ref name=oilfield>{{Cite journal
 | last1 = Allix
 | first1 = Pierre
 | last2 = Burnham
 | first2 = Alan K.
 | title = Coaxing Oil from Shale
 | journal = Oilfield Review
 | publisher = [[Schlumberger]]
 | date = 1 December 2010
 | issue = 4
 | volume = 22
 | page = 6
 | url = http://www.slb.com/~/media/Files/resources/oilfield_review/ors10/win10/coaxing.ashx
 | format = PDF
 | access-date = 18 April 2012
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150106093639/http://www.slb.com/~/media/Files/resources/oilfield_review/ors10/win10/coaxing.ashx
 | archive-date = 6 January 2015
 | url-status = dead
 }}</ref>]]
Humans have used oil shale as a fuel since prehistoric times, since it generally burns without any processing.<ref>
{{cite conference| date=21 April 1987|conference=Oil shale symposium|location=Golden, CO
 |publisher=[[United States Department of Energy]]
 |title=Non-synfuel uses of oil shale
 |osti = 6567632}}
</ref> Around 3000 BC, "rock oil" was used in [[Mesopotamia]] for road construction and making architectural adhesives.<ref name=moody>{{Cite conference | last = Moody | first = Richard | title = UK Oil and Gas Shales—Definitions and Distribution in Time and Space | conference = History of On-Shore Hydrocarbon Use in the UK | url = https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Groups-and-Networks/Specialist-Groups/History-of-Geology-Group/~/media/shared/documents/specialist%20and%20regional%20groups/hogg/hogg_weymouth%20abstract%20book.ashx | date = 20 April 2007 | pages = 1–2 | publisher = [[Geological Society of London]] | location = [[Weymouth, Dorset|Weymouth]] | access-date = 6 September 2014}}</ref> [[Celtic Britons|Britons]] of the [[Iron Age]] used tractable oil shales to fashion [[cist]]s for burial,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cadell |first1=Henry M |title=The Rocks of West Lothian. An Account of the Geological and Mining History of the West Lothian District |date=1925 |publisher=Oliver and Boyd |location=Edinburgh |pages=390 |edition=1st}}</ref> or just polish it to create ornaments.<ref>
{{cite web
 |last= West | first = Ian
 |title=Kimmeridge – The Blackstone – Oil Shale
 |publisher=[[University of Southampton]]
 |date=6 January 2008
 |url= http://www.southampton.ac.uk/~imw/Kimmeridge-Oil-Shale.htm
 |access-date=9 February 2014}}
</ref>

In the 10th century, the Arab physician [[Masawaih al-Mardini]] (Mesue the Younger) described a [[Shale oil extraction|method of extraction]] of oil from "some kind of bituminous shale".<ref name="art41">{{cite book | first = Robert James | last = Forbes | title = A Short History of the Art of Distillation from the Beginnings Up to the Death of Cellier Blumenthal  | year = 1970 | publisher = [[Brill Publishers]] | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=u_tui-7XXF0C&pg=PA41 | isbn = 978-90-04-00617-1 | pages = 41–42}}</ref> The first patent for extracting oil from oil shale was British Crown Patent 330 granted in 1694 to Martin Eele, Thomas Hancock and William Portlock, who had "found a way to extract and make great quantities of pitch, tarr, and oyle out of a sort of stone".<ref name=moody/><ref name="mushrush39">[[#mushrush|Mushrush (1995)]], p. 39</ref><ref name="yen56">[[#yen|Cane (1976)]], p. 56</ref>

Modern industrial mining of oil shale began in 1837 in [[Autun]], France, followed by exploitation in Scotland, Germany, and several other countries.<ref name="wec 96">[[#wec|Dyni (2010)]], p. 96</ref><ref name=laherrere>{{Cite web
 |last         = Laherrère
 |first        = Jean
 |author-link  = Jean Laherrère
 |title        = Review on oil shale data
 |publisher    = Hubbert Peak
 |year         = 2005
 |url          = http://www.hubbertpeak.com/laherrere/oilshalereview200509.pdf
 |access-date  = 17 June 2007
 |archive-date = 28 September 2007
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928004607/http://www.hubbertpeak.com/laherrere/OilShaleReview200509.pdf
 |url-status   = dead
}}</ref> Operations during the 19th century focused on the production of [[kerosene]], lamp oil, and [[Paraffin wax|paraffin]]; these products helped supply the growing demand for lighting that arose during the [[Industrial Revolution]], supplied from Scottish oil shales.<ref name="encarta1">
{{cite web
 |title=Petroleum 
 |first=Todd M. 
 |last=Doscher 
 |publisher=[[MSN Encarta]] 
 |access-date=22 April 2008 
 |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761576221/petroleum.html 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421062940/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761576221/Petroleum.html 
 |archive-date=21 April 2008 
 |url-status=dead 
 |df= dmy-all}}
</ref> Fuel oil, lubricating oil and grease, and [[ammonium sulfate]] were also produced.<ref>
{{cite web
 |url= http://www.aapg.org/about/aapg/overview/committees/emd/Articleid/26348/committee-emd-oil-shale#141872050-details
 |title= Oil Shale Committee-EMD
 |publisher=American Association of Petroleum Geologists
 |access-date= 4 February 2018}}
</ref>  Scottish production peaked in around 1913, operating 120 oil shale works,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cadell |first1=Henry |title=The geology of the oil-shale fields of the Lothians |journal=Transactions of the Edinburgh Geological Society |date=1901 |volume=8 |pages=116–163|doi=10.1144/transed.8.1.116 |s2cid=176768495 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1600038 }}</ref> producing 3,332,000 tonnes of oil shale, generating around 2% of the global production of petroleum.<ref name=museum>{{cite web
 | title = A Brief History of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry
 | work = Museum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry
 | url = http://www.scottishshale.co.uk/HistoryPages/index.html
 | access-date = 2012-07-07
 | archive-date = 25 September 2019
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190925175340/http://www.scottishshale.co.uk/HistoryPages/index.html
 | url-status = dead
 }}</ref> The Scottish oil-shale industry expanded immediately before [[World War I]] partly because of limited access to conventional petroleum resources and the mass production of automobiles and trucks, which accompanied an increase in gasoline consumption; but mostly because the [[British Admiralty]] required a reliable fuel source for their fleet as war in Europe loomed.

[[File:XXe - Mine des Télots - 02.jpg|thumb|[[Autun]] oil shale mines]]

Although the Estonian and Chinese oil-shale industries continued to grow after [[World War II]], most other countries abandoned their projects because of high processing costs and the availability of cheaper petroleum.<ref name="dyni" /><ref name="laherrere" /><ref name="wec 97">[[#wec|Dyni (2010)]], p. 97</ref><ref name="fushun2">
{{Cite conference
 |last        = Yin
 |first       = Liang
 |title       = Current status of oil shale industry in Fushun, China
 |conference  = International Oil Shale Conference
 |date        = 7 November 2006
 |location    = [[Amman]], Jordan
 |url         = http://www.sdnp.jo/International_Oil_Conference/rtos-A106.pdf
 |access-date  = 29 June 2007
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928110915/http://www.sdnp.jo/International_Oil_Conference/rtos-A106.pdf
 |archive-date = 28 September 2007
 |df          = dmy-all
}}
</ref> Following the [[1973 oil crisis]], world production of oil shale reached a peak of 46&nbsp;million tonnes in 1980 before falling to about 16&nbsp;million tonnes in 2000, because of competition from [[1980s oil glut|cheap conventional petroleum in the 1980s]].<ref name="Burnham">{{cite web
 | last = Burnham
 | first = A. K.
 | title = Slow Radio-Frequency Processing of Large Oil Shale Volumes to Produce Petroleum-like Shale Oil
 | publisher = [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]]
 | date = 20 August 2003
 | url = https://e-reports-ext.llnl.gov/pdf/243505.pdf
 | id = UCRL-ID-155045
 | access-date = 28 June 2007
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170216041927/https://e-reports-ext.llnl.gov/pdf/243505.pdf
 | archive-date = 16 February 2017
 | url-status = dead
 }}</ref><ref name="symposium" />

On 2 May 1982, known in some circles as "Black Sunday", [[ExxonMobil|Exxon]] canceled its US$5&nbsp;billion [[Colony Shale Oil Project]] near [[Parachute, Colorado]], because of low oil prices and increased expenses, laying off more than 2,000&nbsp;workers and leaving a trail of home foreclosures and small business bankruptcies.<ref name="chronicle">
{{cite news
 | last = Collier | first = Robert
 | title = Coaxing oil from huge U.S. shale deposits
 | newspaper = [[San Francisco Chronicle]]
 | date = 4 September 2006
 | url = http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Coaxing-oil-from-huge-U-S-shale-deposits-2489359.php
 | access-date = 19 December 2012}}
</ref>  In 1986, President [[Ronald Reagan]] signed into law the [[Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985]], which among other things abolished the United States' [[Synthetic Liquid Fuels Program]].<ref name="andrews">
{{cite report
 | last = Andrews
 | first = Anthony
 | title = Oil Shale: History, Incentives, and Policy
 | publisher = Congressional Research Service
 | date = 13 April 2006
 | url = https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33359.pdf
 | access-date = 25 June 2007
}}</ref>

The global oil-shale industry began to revive at the beginning of the 21st century. In 2003, an oil-shale development program restarted in the United States. Authorities introduced a commercial leasing program permitting the extraction of oil shale and oil sands on federal lands in 2005, in accordance with the [[Energy Policy Act of 2005]].<ref name=blm>
{{cite press release
 |publisher   = Bureau of Land Management
 |url         = https://www.blm.gov/nhp/news/releases/pages/2005/pr050920_oilshale.htm
 |title       = Nominations for Oil Shale Research Leases Demonstrate Significant Interest in Advancing Energy Technology
 |date        = 20 September 2005
 |access-date  = 10 July 2007
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080916051633/http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/newsroom/2005/september/NR_050920.html
 |archive-date = 16 September 2008
}}
</ref><ref name=anl>{{cite web
 |publisher    = Oil Shale and Tar Sands Leasing Programmatic EIS Information Center
 |url          = http://ostseis.anl.gov/eis/what/index.cfm
 |title        = What's in the Oil Shale and Tar Sands Leasing Programmatic EIS
 |access-date   = 10 July 2007
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20070703105351/http://ostseis.anl.gov/eis/what/index.cfm
 |archive-date = 3 July 2007
 |url-status     = dead
 |df           = dmy-all
}}</ref>