Because an oil shale production infrastructure is almost entirely lacking at present, and because the existing infrastructure for conventional petroleum cannot, for a number of reasons, easily re-adapt itself to serve oil shale producers, enormous economic opportunities are present for a wide range of support industries, including heavy construction and plant engineering companies, pipe fitters and manufacturers, mining companies, drilling rig operators, oil and mineral exploration companies, and many more. Potentially a mature shale oil industry could provide hundreds of thousands of jobs, hundreds of billions of dollars per year in revenues, and tens of billions in tax receipts, and could even help to redress the nation's persistent balance of payment deficit. It is no exaggeration at all to say that oil shale could become one of North America's most important industries.

Investors, entrepreneurs, major oil companies, engineering firms, and other interested parties need up to date information and cogent third party analysis. While some very high level reports on oil shale have been issued recently by the U.S. Department of Energy and some private research institutes, none has been investment or market oriented or has presented any kind of comprehensive roadmap for commercialization. The last studies released that had that kind of scope appeared over a quarter century ago when the U.S. corporate and governmental involvement in oil shale development was coming to an end.   During the ensuing oil shale dark ages very little was published, nor has there been any cohesive examination to date of the processing and extraction technology developments that have occurred since the end of the last boom. 

Why This Report is Timely and Important:

• There is no comprehensive, focused information resource providing facts and analysis to investors and entrepreneurs.
• There is no competitive intelligence worthy of the name that has been published in this area.
• There have been no systematic attempts to evaluate the respective merits of the various processing technologies vying for acceptance in the marketplace.
• There is no published summary analysis of the legislative and political environment in which oil shale finds itself.
• Little has been written on the oil shale ecosystem, i.e. the system of relationships that must be forged between oil shale producers and the established petroleum industry, the petrochemical industry, and the natural gas industry among others.

The Scope of this Report
The report is intended to provide a support for business decision making and a means of identifying profit making opportunities within the emerging oil shale industry. 

The Methodology Employed in this Report
This study is based upon a multitude of interviews with oil shale industry insiders as well as with individuals in related industries and in relevant academic disciplines. It is also based upon an extensive reading of scientific papers, government studies both here and abroad, and investigations into other alternative fuel industries. It is informed by the author's knowledge of the history of technology and of the diffusion of technical innovations in the marketplace.