Tight oil

Tight oil (also known as shale oil, shale-hosted oil or light tight oil, abbreviated LTO) is light crude oil contained in unconventional petroleum-bearing formations of low permeability, often shale or tight sandstone.[1] Economic production from tight oil formations requires the same hydraulic fracturing and often uses the same horizontal well technology used in the production of shale gas. While sometimes called "shale oil", tight oil should not be confused with oil shale (shale rich in kerogen) or shale oil (oil produced from oil shales).[2][3][4] Therefore, the International Energy Agency recommends using the term "light tight oil" for oil produced from shales or other very low permeability formations, while the World Energy Resources 2013 report by the World Energy Council uses the terms "tight oil" and "shale-hosted oil".[3][5]

Shown are conceptual illustrations of types of oil and gas wells. A vertical well is producing from a conventional oil and gas deposit (right). Also shown are wells producing from unconventional formations: a vertical coalbed methane well (second from right); a horizontal well producing from a shale formation (center); and a well producing from a tight sand formation (left).

In May 2013 the International Energy Agency in its Medium-Term Oil Market Report (MTOMR) said that the North American oil production surge led by unconventional oils - US light tight oil (LTO) and Canadian oil sands - had produced a global supply shock that would reshape the way oil is transported, stored, refined and marketed.[6]

  1. ^ Mills, Robin M. (2008). The myth of the oil crisis: overcoming the challenges of depletion, geopolitics, and global warming. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 158–159. ISBN 978-0-313-36498-3.
  2. ^ IEA (29 May 2012). Golden Rules for a Golden Age of Gas. World Energy Outlook Special Report on Unconventional Gas (PDF). OECD. p. 21.
  3. ^ a b IEA (2013). World Energy Outlook 2013. OECD. p. 424. ISBN 978-92-64-20130-9.
  4. ^ Reinsalu, Enno; Aarna, Indrek (2015). "About technical terms of oil shale and shale oil" (PDF). Oil Shale. A Scientific-Technical Journal. 32 (4): 291–292. doi:10.3176/oil.2015.4.01. ISSN 0208-189X. Retrieved 2016-01-16.
  5. ^ World Energy Resources 2013 Survey (PDF). World Energy Council. 2013. p. 2.46. ISBN 9780946121298.
  6. ^ "Supply shock from North American oil rippling through global markets", IEA, International Energy Agency, 14 May 2013, retrieved 28 December 2013