Raytheon sells oil-extracting technology

The Associated Press

Defense contractor Raytheon Co. is selling technology to a large oilfield services firm that hopes microwaves will someday become a key tool in unlocking the vast but hard-to-extract oil reserves in the West’s underground shale deposits.

Much as a microwave oven heats food, Raytheon’s technology relies on microwaves to generate underground heat and melt a waxy substance called kerogen so it can be converted into oil.