American Shale Oil

American Shale Oil
Private
Industry Oil shale
Predecessor EGL Oil Shale
Headquarters Rifle, Colorado, United States
Key people
 Claude Pupkin (CEO) Howard Jonas (CEO, Parent Company), Alan Burnham (Chief Technology Officer)
Owner Genie Oil & Gas
Total S.A.
Website www.amso.net

The American Shale Oil, LLC (AMSO), formerly known as EGL Oil Shale, LLC, is a developer of in-situ shale oil extraction technology based in Rifle, Colorado. It is owned 50% each by Genie Oil and Gas and Total S.A.[1]

History

EGL Oil Shale was established as a subsidiary of EGL Resources, a privately owned independent oil and gas company with operations in the southwestern United States. In 2006, it was awarded a lease by the United States Bureau of Land Management to develop and demonstrate its in-situ oil shale extraction technology in Western Colorado. On 22 January 2008, IDT Corporation and EGL Resources signed an agreement, according to which IDT acquired 75% of EGL Oil Shale and renamed it AMSO, LLC. AMSO was formed on 15 February 2008.[2][3] Shortly thereafter, IDT bought an additional 15% of AMSO. Subsequently, on 3 March 2009, French oil major Total bought 50% of AMSO's shares for $3.2 million, with EGL Resources selling their remainder and IDT retaining 50%.[1][4] IDT's share was subsequently transferred to Genie Energy, which was split off from IDT on October 31, 2011.

In 2007, the company was awarded the Bureau of Land Management oil shale research, development and demonstration lease in Rio Blanco County, Colorado.[5] AMSO started its pilot well in January 2012, but the operations were interrupted shortly afterwards due to technical problems with a 600 kilowatt electric heater.[6]

Technology

American Shale Oil is developing a process called "Conduction, Convection, Reflux" (CCR) oil shale conversion. The process combines horizontal wells, which are heated by a downhole burner or other means, and other horizontal or vertical wells, which provide both heat transfer through refluxing of generated oil and a means to collect and produce the oil. At the start of the heating process, oil is injected to improve heat transfer. AMSO has proposed that permeability of the formation sufficient for convection will be achieved by thermomechanical fracturing.[7] The original technology proposed by EGL was based on hydraulic fracturing.[8])

AMSO believes that by heating the rock more quickly than in the Shell in situ conversion process - 3 to 12 months as opposed to several years - the CCR process will consume less energy and require fewer wells.[9] Researchers at Petrochina who reviewed AMSOs proposed technology in 2008 noted that the output of oil and gas could be faster, but felt that the technical complexity and costs of the proposed technology were shortcomings, and also noted that the fluid flow would be difficult to control and easy to "short-circuit."[10]

Operations

AMSO's operating office is located in Rifle, Colorado.[11] AMSO is also supported by AMSO and Genie staff at the Genie office in Newark, New Jersey.[4] According to an SEC filing by IDT in October 2011, AMSO had four full-time employees and fixed assets of US$15,000.[4] The company is leasing a 160 acres (650,000 m2) test tract in the Piceance Basin from the Bureau of Land Management.[8][12]

According to Genie Energy's first quarter 2013 financial report:

"In early March 2013, AMSO, LLC initiated start-up of its oil shale pilot test.... After approximately two weeks of operation, the down-hole electric heater failed. Pilot operations were too short to allow conclusions to be drawn about the ultimate viability of AMSO, LLC’s approach."[13] In August 2013, AMSO announced that field testing would be delayed by perhaps 12 months to evaluate alternate heating methods.[14]

Management

The company's chairman and chief executive officer is Howard Jonas, the founder and chairman of IDT Corporation. The president is Claude Pupkin. The chief technology officer and project manager is Alan K. Burnham,[2] and the vice president for operations is Roger L. Day.

References

  1. 1 2 "Total buys 50 pct stake in AMSO to sell shale oil". Reuters. 2009-01-14. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
  2. 1 2 "IDT Corporation Introduces Shale Oil Division". Reuters. 2008-02-15. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
  3. ↑ "IDT grabs share of shale". Upstream Online (NHST Media Group). 2008-01-22. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  4. 1 2 3 "Preliminary Information Statement". Genie Energy. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
  5. ↑ Tsai, Catherine (2012-08-31). "BLM OKs 2 more Colo. oil shale research leases". Bloomberg Businessweek. Associated Press. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  6. ↑ Farnham, Alan (2012-11-13). "An American Oil Find That Holds More Than All of OPEC". ABC News. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  7. ↑ Burnham, Alan K.; Day, Roger L.; Hardy, Michael P.; Wallman, P. Henrik (2009-08-23). AMSO's novel approach to in-situ oil shale recovery (PDF). 8th World Congress of Chemical Engineering. Montreal, Canada. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
  8. 1 2 "Plan of Operation for Oil Shale Research, Development and Demonstration (R,D/D) Tract" (PDF). E.G.L. Resources, Inc. 2006-02-15. Retrieved 2008-05-01.
  9. ↑ "RD&D Leases. Testing a New Generation of Technology". Center of the American West. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
  10. ↑ Fang, Chaohe; Zheng, Dewen; Liu, Dexun (2008-10-13). Main Problems in Development and Utilization of Oil Shale and Status of In-Situ Conversion in China (PDF). 28th Oil Shale Symposium. Golden, Colorado: Colorado School of Mines. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  11. ↑ Secure Fuels from Domestic Resources: The Continuing Evolution of America's Oil Shale and Tar Sands Industries (PDF) (4 ed.). United States Department of Energy. September 2011. pp. 8–9. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  12. ↑ "Innovation in Shale Technology". EGL Shale. 2006-11-16. Archived from the original on 20 June 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-06.
  13. ↑ GENIE ENERGY, QUARTERLY 10-Q REPORT FOR THE QUARTERLY PERIOD ENDED MARCH 31, 2013, p. 22.
  14. ↑ http://www.marketwatch.com/story/genie-energy-ltd-reports-second-quarter-2013-results-2013-08-08

External links

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