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Kerosene Vale is a historic locality within the City of Lithgow Local Government Area of New South Wales, Australia. Kerosene Vale lies near Lidsdale and Wallerawang. It is considered part of Lidsdale for census purposes. It should not be confused with Hartley Vale, another locality with a history of shale oil production, which is also within the City of Lithgow. The name Kerosene Vale is now only used infrequently.
The area that later became known as Kerosene Vale lies close to the easternmost extent of the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri people.
The site of the oil shale mine, retorting, and refining operation was south of Sawyers Swamp. Dr Walter Fawkes Mackenzie applied for a Mineral Lease of 240ac there in 1866. Erection of the retorts began in early 1867. By mid-1867, Kerosene Vale Oil Works, owned by the Mackenzie brothers, was ready to commence operation.
The equipment and processes of the oil works were described as follows, in a newspaper article in the Sydney Mail of 1 June 1867, The works consisted of a steam engine and boiler, a sawmill and one bench of retorts, together with two 500-gallon wrought iron distillation stills that were heated by superheated steam. The equipment was made by the Newcastle Foundry. In the retorts, broken up torbanite was heated to dull-red heat for around eight hours, driving off the crude oil. The crude oil was then heated in one of the stills, and 'light oils' that were too flammable for lighting purposes were distilled off. After treatment with acid or alkali to remove impurities, the remnant oil was separated into lubricating oils and 'parrafine' in the second still, with the remnant of that process been black pitch. The various oils were then packaged for market.