1. College of Earth Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130061, China;
2. Key Laboratory for Oil Shale and Coexisting Minerals of Jilin Province, Changchun 130061, China;
3. Key Laboratory for Mineralization, Exploration and Exploitation of Oil Shale and Paragenetic Energy Minerals, Changchun 130061, China;
4. Oil & Gas Survey, China Geological Survey, Beijing 100029, China

Qaidam Basin is an important oil shale-bearing basin in Northwest China, and has great potential for oil shale in Yuqia area of northern margin. In order to find out the quality features of oil shale in the Middle Jurassic Shimengou Formation, systematic sampling, tests and analysis of Well YYY-1 in the study area have been carried out. All data show that the oil shale in the research area has the features of medium oil content, medium calorific value, high ash content, medium volatile, low moisture, low density and low sulfur. With its convenient transportation, good geological conditions and a series of industrial analysis indexes, the oil shale in Yuqia area is characterized by high quality, shallow burying depth and a high value of industrial development. It is suggested that an integrated industrial development process should be implemented in the oil shale-bearing areas in Yuqia, such as dry distillation refining, electric power generation, silica, and building materials. Integrated utilization project of oil shale in Yuqia area can be developed. This could alleviate the current energy shortage in Qaidam Basin, and also help to promote production of agricultural and animal huabandry in Qaidam area.