Bituminous shale is an argillaceous shale impregnated with bitumen, often accompanying coal. It may contain kerogen; in that case it is classified as oil shale. When carbonaceous material is present in large amounts, bituminous shale grades into bituminous coal.[1] The term 'bituminous shale' sometimes is used in the broader context including also oil shales, albertite and other similar sedimentary rocks.
Bituminous shale may be used as fuel or as a paving material. It was used in pre-Roman times in the Kimmeridge Bay area of Dorset, England as a low-grade fuel and as a material for craftsmen. In Roman times, the first large-scale usage of bituminous shale was started. In 1851, a process for extraction of kerosene from bituminous shale was patented by Canadian physician and geologist Abraham Pineo Gesner.[1]