Could Estonia lead a shale oil boom?

90 percent of the tiny eastern European country's citizens get their energy from shale oil. And they're ready to export their expertise.

Estonia's new, state-of-the-art Enefit280 oil shale refinery.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Gary Peach)

Estonia— home of the founders of Skype and the (fake) birthplace of Encino Man— hopes to emerge as an industry leader in the production of shale oil.

Shale oil comes from, well, oil shale — a soft brown sedimentary rock rich in the organic chemical compound blend kerogen. When heated, kerogen can produce oil similar to crude, and can be processed into jet fuel, diesel, gasoline, and heating oil. These products may burn cleaner than those from crude oil — even cleaner than super diesel (ultra low sulfur diesel), though environmentalists worry about mining and processing hazards.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us

Carmel Lobello is the business editor at TheWeek.com. Previously, she was an editor at DeathandTaxesMag.com.