Question

What can kerogen be converted to within oil shales, and how is this done?

a) Natural gas, through pressurized injection
b) Crude oil, through hydraulic fracturing
c) Bitumen, through mining and heating
d) Diamonds, through carbon compression

Answer 1

Kerogen can be converted to natural gas, crude oil, and bitumen within oil shales through different methods such as pressurized injection, hydraulic fracturing, and mining and heating.

Step-by-step explanation:

Kerogen, a solid organic material found in oil shales, can be converted into useful products such as natural gas, crude oil, and bitumen. The conversion process depends on the specific method used.

For natural gas production, kerogen can be converted through pressurized injection, which involves injecting high-pressure fluids underground to release the gas trapped in the rock.

Crude oil can be obtained from kerogen through a process called hydraulic fracturing or fracking. This method involves drilling into the rock and injecting a high-pressure mixture of water, sand, and chemicals to fracture the rock and allow the oil to flow.

Bitumen, a thick and heavy petroleum, can be produced from kerogen through mining and heating. This process involves strip mining the oil shale or creating subsurface mines and heating the rock to extract the bitumen.