Co-current combustion front propagation in a bed of crushed oil shale ( OS) leads to the production of liquid oil, of a flue gas and of a solid residue. The objective of this paper was to provide a detailed chemical characterization of Timahdit oil shale and of its smoldering combustion products. The amount of fixed carbon (FC) formed during devolatilization is measured at 4.7% of the initial mass of oil shale whatever the heating rate in the range 50-900 K min (1). The combustion of oil shale was operated using a mix of 75/25 wt. of OS/sand with an air supply of 1460 l min (1) m (2). In these conditions, not all the FC is oxidized at the passage of the front, but 88% only, with a partitioning of 56.5% into CO and the rest into CO(2). A calorific gas with a lower calorific value of 54 kJ mol (1) is produced. Approximately 52% of the organic matter from OS is recovered as liquid oil. The front decarbonates 83% of carbonates. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.