The central feature of the technology, as presented in AMSO's Plan of Operations and approved by the Bureau of Land Management, utilizes boiling oil condensate to distribute heat through the target rock layer. The basic process, shown in the image below, has been named "Conduction, Convection, Reflux" or CCR^TM.

In the CCR^TM Process, heat is introduced to the rock formation through a horizontal well. The heat causes the organic material in the rock to slowly heat up to a boiling point. The resulting oil vapors serve as a medium to transfer the heat through the rock, creating a retorting process (the rock "breaks" and rubblizes). Hot oil vapor is collected through a production well drilled in the retort area, and other vapors cool down, condensate and essentially repeat the process.