Shale oil extraction Energy estimates that the "ex-situ" processing would be economic at sustained average world oil prices above $54 per barrel and "in-situ" processing would be economic at prices above $35 per barrel. These estimates assume a return rate of 15%. Royal Dutch Shell announced in 2006 that its Shell ICP technology would realize a profit when crude oil prices are higher than $30 per barrel ($190/m), while some technologies at full-scale production assert profitability at oil prices even lower than $20 per barrel ($130/m). To increase the efficiency of oil shale retorting and by this the viability of the shale oil
Cubic mile of oil of oil (1.26 trillion U.S. gallons or 4.75 trillion litres) each year. Numbers of this magnitude are difficult to conceive by most people. The volume occupied by one trillion U.S. gallons is about one cubic mile. Crane felt that a cubic mile would be an easier concept for the general public than a trillion gallons. The CMO is the energy released by burning a cubic mile of oil. Conversions to other units may be calculated based on the barrel of oil equivalent (BOE), an approximation of the energy released by burning one 42-US-gallon barrel of crude oil. Since one BOE