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
Barrel (unit) is exactly equivalent to a volume of 158.987294928 litres. In the oil industry, following the definition of the American Petroleum Institute, a standard barrel of oil is often taken to mean the amount of oil that at a standard pressure (14.696 psi) and temperature (60 F) would occupy a volume of exactly 1 bbl. This standard barrel of oil will occupy a different volume at different pressures and temperatures. A standard barrel in this context is thus not simply a measure of volume, but of volume under specific conditions. The task of converting this standard barrel of oil to a