Did you know it's not technically 'shale oil' that's being fracked?
What's being fracked is regular oil, trapped within formations of regular shale (referred to as a tight shale play).
If you think of a cake, the oil is the frosting bit in the middle, the shale is the fluffy spongy part.
Shale Oil is OTOH derived from a specific type of shale which has been saturated with a hydrocarbon called kerogen (called, oddly enough, Oil Shale), which is basically dug up en masse and converted (via various physical and chemical processes) into a mixture that approximates traditional petroleum, called 'shale oil'.
In this scenario, the shale is fluffy spongy part, the kerogen is sugar. The sugar is chemically removed from the spongy part, and then converted to like-frosting.
We actually have TONS AND TONS of this type of saturated shale in the US that we COULD do this with, but traditionally it's been very low energy returned on energy invested, and hence not economically viable.
Not saying we SHOULD or even that we ever will. But oil removed from tight shale formations via fracking ... is not 'shale oil'.
Just your factual tidbit for the day 
= new reply since forum marked as read
