- For another use of the term "shale oil", meaning synthetic crude oil derived from oil shale, see shale oil
Tight oil (also known as
shale oil or
light tight oil, abbreviated
LTO) is petroleum that consists of light
crude oil contained in
petroleum-bearing formations of low
permeability, often
shale or tight sandstone. Economic production from tight oil formations requires the same
hydraulic fracturing and often uses the same
horizontal well technology used in the production of
shale gas. It should not be confused with
oil shale, which is shale rich in
kerogen, or
shale oil, which is oil produced from oil shales. Therefore, the
International Energy Agency recommends to use the term "light tight oil" for oil produced from shales or other very low permeability formations, while World Energy Resources 2013 report by the
World Energy Council uses the term "tight oil". In May 2013 the
International Energy Agency in its
Medium-Term Oil Market Report (MTOMR) said that the North American oil production surge led by unconventional oils - US light tight oil (LTO) and Canadian oil sands - had produced a global supply shock that would reshape the way oil is transported, stored, refined and marketed.