Oil Shale
Most oil shales are fine-grained sedimentary rocks containing relatively large amounts of organic matter from which significant amounts of shale oil and combustible gas can be extracted by destructive distillation. Included in most definitions of "oil shale", either stated or implied, is the potential for the profitable extraction of shale oil and combustible gas or for burning as a fuel.
Oil Sands
 Oil sands are currently found in about 70 countries around the world, including Canada, the former Soviet Union, Venezuela, Cuba, Indonesia, Brazil, Jordan, Madagascar, Trinidad, Colombia, Albania, Rumania, Spain, Portugal Nigeria, and Argentina. The United States contains scattered deposits of oil sands, mainly in Utah, Kentucky, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, California, and New Mexico. Most of the oil sand deposits occur in Venezuela and Canada. The largest single hydrocarbon deposit in the world is the Athabasca oil sands of northeastern Alberta, Canada.
Drilling Mud
Drilling Mud is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons, water, metals, and suspended fine solids. Drilling Mud is classified as a Hazardous material.
According to the United Nations, effective control of the generation, storage, treatment, recycling and reuse, transport, recovery and disposal of hazardous waste is of paramount importance for proper health, environmental protection and natural resource management, and sustainable development.
Current Treatment/Disposal Methodologies
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Method
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Description
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Remarks
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Land filling
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Simple burying
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Environmentally unacceptable
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Mud farming
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Spreading & mixing on soil
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Long time & dependent on soil & climate
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Incineration
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Controlled burning
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Serious air pollution threat
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Chemical fixation
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Encapsulation in inert sealant
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Costly & unknown long term fate
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Centrifugation
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Density difference separation
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Low quality oil, cake with attached oil
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Bioremediation
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Enzyme mediated oxidation, Natural incineration
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No oil recovery, end products are carbon dioxide and biomass
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