Tomco Energy (TMCGY)

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Tomco Energy (London AIM Market "TOM") tipped in Investors Chronicle 8th Sep 2011

Is oil shale the next energy game-changer?
Created: 8 September 2011

Written by: Rachael Boraston and Martin Li
Peak oil remains the subject of great debate but there is little doubt we have reached the peak for cheap oil. It is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to extract enough conventional oil to maintain global output at its current level of around 87m barrels a day.

Technological advances have transformed the natural gas market through the development of horizontal drilling and fracture stimulation, which releases gas from tightly-held shale reservoirs. It is hoped that new technology could similarly transform oilshale into a plentiful source of liquid fuels.

Oilshale is a sedimentary rock that contains kerogen, an 'immature' oil that hasn't been subjected to enough temperature and pressure to convert fully into hydrocarbons. Geologists believe there could be three trillion barrels of oilshale globally, which would dwarf the 1.5 trillion barrels of remaining oil reserves. Oilshale is not a new discovery; it has been mined extensively in countries such as Brazil, China, Estonia and Russia. However, extracting the fuel has historically been costly and environmentally harmful.



Retorts and in-situ are the traditional techniques for extracting oilshale. The retorts technique mines the shale then heats it to extract oil. This is problematic due to the high carbon dioxide output and high capital cost. The in-situ process involves heating oilshale underground using electric probes. But it can take two to three years to reach optimum temperature and there is also the potential for oil pollution into the surrounding area.

In an evolution of these processes, TomCo Energy plans to use an in-capsule "EcoShale" technology that combines surface mining with sub-surface retorts. The process uses a clay capsule where waste can be contained and recycles excess gas to speed up the heating process. EcoShale has been found to produce two-thirds lower carbon emissions than traditional retorts and, critically, can produce oil at a competitive $40 a barrel.


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IC VIEW:

TomCo’s licences hold the potential for 230m barrels of oil and the company is developing a 9,500 barrels per day commercial production facility. First oil is targeted for 2014 (Red Leaf Resources, which developed the EcoShale process, is looking to be in production even sooner) and, if successful, this technology could prove a game-changer for oilshale.[color=red][color=red][/color][/color]

Source:
http://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/Companies/ByEvent/TradingTechniques/Analysis/article/20110908/03b408b0-da14-11e0-ba93-00144f2af8e8/Is-oil-shale-the-next-energy-gamechanger.jsp?utm_campaign=IC%2BDaily%2B-%2BFree&utm_source=emailCampaign&utm_medium=email