Alexander François Selligue was a French engineer. In 1832, he together with David Blum patented an application of shale oil

Shale oil

Shale oil, known also as kerogen oil or oil-shale oil, is an unconventional oil produced from oil shale by pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or thermal dissolution. These processes convert the organic matter within the rock into synthetic oil and gas...

 for direct illumination. In 1838, he patented "the employment of mineral oils for lighting". His process of distilling bituminous shale

Bituminous shale

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...

s (oil shale

Oil shale

Oil shale, an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock, contains significant amounts of kerogen from which liquid hydrocarbons called shale oil can be produced...

) was first described in the Journal des Connaissances Usuelles in 1834. This process for the oil shale retorting was first used in Autun

Autun

Autun is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in Burgundy in eastern France. It was founded during the early Roman Empire as Augustodunum. Autun marks the easternmost extent of the Umayyad campaign in Europe.-Early history:...

, France, in 1838. This is considered the start of the modern oil shale industry

Oil shale industry

Oil shale industry is an industry of mining and processing of oil shale—a fine-grained sedimentary rock, containing significant amounts of kerogen , from which liquid hydrocarbons can be manufactured. The industry has developed in Brazil, China, Estonia and to some extent in Germany, Israel and...

.