The extracted shale oil by the thermal cracking process of the El-Lujjan oil shale showed that the yield of oil was around 12 wt%. The amount of sulfur in this shale oil was found to increase (from 7 to 9.5 wt%) with the increase of the boiling point for different distillate fractions. Sulfur in Jordanian oil shale was found to be mainly organic sulfur with negligible amounts of inorganic sulfur. Sulfur was found to be in the aromatic form in these fractions. Different forms of thiophenes were found in all fractions of the shale oil extracts without a distinct change in the concentration of any specific compounds with these extracts. Alkylthiophenes were the dominant phases in these fractions. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.