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
Imperial Oil of the world’s largest oil sands operations. Imperial is also in a joint venture oil sands mining operation with ExxonMobil Corp., called Kearl Oil Sands. Currently headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Imperial Oil was based in Toronto, Ontario, until 2005. Most of Imperial's production is from its vast natural resource holdings in the Alberta Oil sands and the Norman Wells oil field in the Northwest Territories. The company was incorporated in London, Ontario, in 1880 (Filey 1998:62). The company's association with ExxonMobil dates back to 1898 when the then-Standard Oil of New Jersey acquired a controlling stake in Imperial Oil. Imperial