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Unconventional oil is obtained through methods other than conventional drilling, including shale rock, tar sands, and heavy oil. These methods are less efficient and have a greater environmental impact. Kerogen, bitumen, and thermal depolymerization are also used to extract unconventional oil, but pose environmental risks.
Unconventional oil is oil obtained in a different way from the usual drilling method. There are many unconventional oils, including tar sand and shale rock, and the term applies more to how the oil is extracted than to the oil itself. In terms of efficiency, yield and environmental impact, unconventional oil is not as good as conventional oil. Conventional oil drilling is producing less and less oil, however, so many oil drilling companies are looking for alternative ways to get oil.
Kerogen is a material that originates from plants or animals and has been altered by bacteria. Unlike liquid petroleum, which has undergone extreme heat to become conventional oil, kerogen has not undergone this process. Using a heating process, the kerogen is converted into an oil-like substance that can be used like regular petroleum. Shale rock, a type of sedimentary rock, contains high amounts of kerogen and is an unconventional method of obtaining oil commonly called shale oil.
Bitumen, more often called tar sand because of its texture, looks a lot like oil or tar, but it’s neither. It is a semi-solid material that contains degraded oil and is composed heavily of sand and clay particles. This method produces little unconventional oil, because 2 tons (1.814 kilograms) are needed for a barrel of oil. The most common way to extract bitumen is to inject steam into the tar sand, which reduces the viscosity of the bitumen and makes it easier to collect.
Heavy oil is unconventional oil that is similar to conventional oil but much heavier. This is because the lighter hydrocarbons in conventional oil have degraded, leaving only a heavy substance. To extract the heavy oil, thinners are added to reduce the overall viscosity so that the heavy oil can be pumped out.
Thermal depolymerization (TDP) is a method that emulates nature and uses different raw materials for unconventional oil. Raw materials, such as petroleum coke or waste dumps, are added to the TDP unit. Using extreme heat and pressure, the raw material is processed to create oil. The yield in oil varies according to the raw material.
While unconventional oil offers several methods of obtaining oil, it does have environmental risks. Most materials used in unconventional oil drilling and extraction contain high amounts of toxic substances, such as sulfur. Areas where unconventional oils come from are also generally more dangerous for workers.
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