ABSTRACTOne-inch blocks of oil shale were treated under three different reaction conditions at 400°C to determine the kinds and amounts of organic materials recoverable. Extractions with liquid and combined liquid-supercritical solvent were found to be effective methods of recovering organic material from shale. Supercritical fluid extraction with methanol-water was found to be more effective than distillation-liquid flow mechanisms; however, large amounts of oil remained in the shale. Low-molecular-weight non-polar compounds were found to be the materials most easily recovered from shale while high-molecular-weight polar compounds were found to be the most difficult materials to recover.