The real driving force behind the so called American oil boom; is sanity, and the weaponized price fluctuations of offshore supplies.
Horizontal and pad drilling have made shale oil drilling much more economic!
And while fracking with chemicals may be problematic; just sand and water hardly seem to present much of a risk.
We have considerable shale oil reserves, and some of these new technologies should open them up, but particularly, now that we are down to just a week's reserve.
That said, shale oil is inherently dirty, given the sheer number of processing/energy intensive steps currently required to convert naphtha into petrol or diesel!
For mine we'd be better served developing an algae based oil industry.
Particularly given we can grow virtually ready to use unrefined, diesel and jet fuel, with the waste products perhaps suitable as animal fodder or eminently suitable for a arable land free, petrol replacing ethanol industry.
With the waste from that possibly suitable for carbon neutral biogas production!
A algae based oil industry, if done on a large enough scale, would completely sequester half the carbon we now produce; or our coal fired industries share.
Some algae are up to 60% oil, absorb 2.5 times their own bodyweight in Co2; and under optimized conditions, double that bodyweight, absorption and oil production capacity, every 24 hours.
And as the world runs out of oil/possible reserves, we will still be powering on, increasing production capacities.
Some industry expertise, [assuming broad scale production], would result in fuel prices, [even with an excise included,] of just 44 cents a litre!
And a huge advantage for all Australian based industry or commerce!
All that's missing is the political will and necessary Government commercial involvement/investment/reinstated oil and gas corporation!?
There are endless reasons for them to involve themselves, and none whatsoever for not!
Can't died in a cornfield over a century ago; unfortunately, won't and its close companion timidity, is very much alive and well; but particularly among patently incompetent, frozen in the headlight's glare/intensive public examination, politicians!
Rhrosty.