Physical and engineering properties of oil shale from El-Lajjun, Jordan

About 150 rock core specimens were extracted from two beds of the El-Lajjun oil-shale deposits with variable oil yield, Physical and engineering prope rties were analyzed and compared, and the oil-shale rock was classified acc ording to several internationally known classification systems. Based on previous works by others and the extensive investigation made in t his study several conclusions are reached. Most of the proven reserve of th is commodity, in Jordan, can be recovered economically, For example, at the El-Lajjun site, a total of 1.3 billion tons out of 27 billion tons of prov en oil shale in Jordan can yield 800 million barrels of crude oil with suit able exploitation techniques. The retorting technique, for oil yield exceed ing ten percent, was recommended over the other known methods. Based on the index and engineering properties that mere measured or assessed, it was sh own that the rock formation is rippable using mechanical means, Also low ex plosive energy is needed to fracture or fragment this bituminous marry lime stone which makes the exploitation of this commodity economically feasible.