Two different methods are used to produce oil from the oil sands surface. An existing belief is that air quality in the northeastern alberta in the athabasca oil sands region aosr is poor and it is adversely affected by oil sands development weinhold, 2011. Openpit mining and hot water extraction methods, which involve the handling of huge tonnages of earth materials, are being employed in the two commercial plants now operating. The oil sands industry update, which is published quarterly, provides an overview of the current status of the oil sands industry expansion in alberta. A picnic table overlooks syncrudes mildred lake oil sands upgrader north of fort mcmurray, alberta on tuesday, may 27. These oil sands, hosted primarily in the mcmurray formation, consist of a mixture of crude bitumen a semisolid rocklike form of crude oil, silica sand, clay minerals, and water. These oil sands, hosted in the mcmurray formation, consist of a mixture of crude bitumen a semisolid form of crude oil, silica sand, clay minerals, and water. Oil sands pollutants contaminate traditional first nations. Alberta lies a promise of addiction tar sands that can be refined into.
Cold heavy oil production with sand in the canadian heavy oil industry report. November 22, 2016 canadas oil sands have long been criticized for their large carbon footprint. Athabasca oil sands conference establishes an alberta oil sands policy and stimulates commercial interest in the resource. The athabasca oil sands first came to the attention of european fur traders in 1719 when wapasu, a cree trader, brought a sample of bituminous sands to the hudsons bay company post at york factory on hudson bay where henry kelsey was the manager. Ghg emissions per barrel of oil sands in 2014 were 31 percent below 1990 levels. Presentation slides in pdf format will be available for download on our website home page approximately 30 minutes prior to the call. Canadas postmined oil sands will have a higher concentration of salts compared with freshwater.
Crude oil from oil sands will constitute a substantial share of future global oil demand. Athabasca oil corporation halts 2020 capital program. It takes about two tons of tar sands to get a barrel of oil. Pdf understanding waterbased bitumen extraction from. Process animation athabasca oil sands project youtube. Understanding waterbased bitumen extraction from athabasca oil sands article pdf available in the canadian journal of chemical engineering 824. The pembina institute oil sands fever vii oil sands fever until recently the oil sands were a vast but largely inaccessible resource. Oil sands facilities currently account for about 9. Understanding the oil sands oil sands september 2011. The oil sands extraction process utilizes enough natural gas to heat approximately 3. Oil sands deposits account for a third of globally proven oil reserves, underlie large natural forested areas, and have extraction methods requiring large volumes of freshwater. Inplace bitumen resources in the alberta oil sands are estimated at 50 billion barrels.
Due to the scale of the reserves, and the expected production life of many projects, there is the potential for production from the oil sands to have an impact on the refining industry in canada, the us, and elsewhere. Fort mcmurray is located in northeast alberta, and home to the athabasca oil sands. The existence of a thin aqueous film, separating bitumen a form of heavy oil from inorganic solids in athabasca oil sands, is analysed based on first principles. An introduction to development in albertas oil sands. Oil sands pollutants contaminate traditional first nations foods. Canada oil sands worker tests negative for coronavirusciveo. The oil sands are a huge benefit to the canadian economy but. The mines shown in the image emitted more than 20 million tons of greenhouse gases in 2008 a product of both oil production and electricity production for the mining operation. While eight billion barrels of oil sands crude oil have been produced to date, this represents. Snowmelt samples from around the oil sands mining and refining areas were found to be toxic to larval minnows at concentrations as low as 25%, in a recent study. Evaluation of oil sands resources a case study in the. Deterministic modeling is commonly used to solve the heterogeneity problems in the reservoir, but rarely used to evaluate.
Athabasca suspends canada oilsands operation on low. Oil sands are the most important of the oil and gas resources in canada. Report to the board of trustees on the oil sands project. Oil sands, tar sands, crude bitumen, or more technically bituminous sands, are a type of. If the keystone xl pipeline is dead, what is the future of the alberta tar sands. Oil sands brochure a strategic resource for canada, north. Water is used in oil sands extraction to help separate extraheavy crude oil, also known as bitumen, from the sand, clay and water that make up the oil sands. It should be noted that cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel from yellow grease both have negligible land disturbance in comparison to oil sands. Oil sands is a form of heavy oil found in sand and rock primarily in the athabasca region of northern alberta, canada.
Oil sands are geologic formations that contain a mixture of thick, heavy oil, water and sand. Oil sands sustainability we work closely with business and industry. The oil sands industry has made significant progress in reducing its emissions per barrel of oil produced. Environmental consequences of oil production from oil sands. Jun 24, 2010 find out the real story about the alberta oil sands, including the challenges we are facing and how the government of alberta is addressing them as a responsible energy producer. Sidney kidder, sidney blair, george hume, and elmer adkins l to r at the edmonton portion of the athabasca oil sands conference at the university of alberta, 1951 source.
Athabasca 2015 field history 29 leismer continues to be a toptier oil sands asset o 6 producing pads 35 sagd well pairs 34 pairs on production and infill wells on production o l3p3 fcd installed in may 2018 o 4 infill wells started on pad 5 in june 2018 o once through steam generator otsg commissioned in september 2018 to improve. The athabasca oil sands, also known as the athabasca tar sands, are large deposits of bitumen or extremely heavy crude oil, located in northeastern alberta, canada roughly centred on the boomtown of fort mcmurray. Oil sands maintenance delay adds crude to flooded oil. The oil sands represent the worlds third largest proven reserves of oil. Canadian natural and shell have also agreed with marathon oil corporation marathon oil to jointly acquire its 20% share in aosp and related oil sands investments. Under the anticipated expansion in oil sands production, not only could the oil sands project severely compromise canadas natural gas supplies, but canadian natural gas may. Oil sands in situ the oil sands deposits of northern alberta represent one of the few reliable, longterm sources of oil supply. Oil sands brochure fact sheet ressources naturelles canada.
Introduction fort mcmurray is an interesting case studies for those interested in the oil sands, boreal forest loss, oil production using different technologies, and water toxicity. Abasand oils limited fonds, provincial archives of alberta. Land and water impacts of oil sands production in alberta. On march 9, 2017, shell announced it would sell all of its insitu and undeveloped oil sands interests in canada and reduce its share in the athabasca oil sands project aosp from 60% to 10%. There has been a lot of talk in recent years surrounding the fight against climate change, but little in the way of a comprehensive strategy. Though they appear to be visibly similar, tar and oil sands are different. Oil sands contain a mixture of sand, water, clay and bitumen, and extraheavy oil that is too thick to be pumped without first being diluted or heated. So the distribution and evaluation of oil sands form a critical basis for risk investment in canada. Definition oil sands or tar sands are a mixture of sand, clay, and water that contain an extra heavy crude oil variant known as bitumen. A hydrologic assessment of a salinespring fen in the. Petroleum maps athabasca oil sands subject guides at. Oil sands are either loose sands or partially consolidated sandstone containing a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, and water, soaked with a dense and extremely viscous form of petroleum technically referred to as bitumen. View alberta oil sands research papers on academia. In situ recovery methods will be required to tap the 90 percent of reserves that are too deeply buried to be surface mined.
After advancements in technology significantly improved the economics of oil sands production, government and industry implemented an ambitious strategy in 1995. The focus is on the effects of oil sands development on the regions air, water, land, climate change and biodiversitywildlife. Distribution of oil sands resources is severely controlled by the reservoir heterogeneity. Earlier projections had oil sands production increasing from the presentday level of 1.
The oil sands have been in the ground for millions of years, but for decades, prospectors lost millions of dollars trying to squeeze the oil out of the sand. A comprehensive guide to the alberta oil sands may 2011. Because it takes energy to mine and separate oil from the sands, oil sands extraction releases more greenhouse gases than other forms of oil production. The area is the site of the recovery and extraction of oil sands using mining. A typical oil sands deposit in alberta contains on average about 10% bitumen, 5% water and 85% solids, mostly in the form of coarse silica sand. A worker who became ill while staying at a canada oil sands work camp has tested negative for the new coronavirus, the camps operator. In rare step, oilsands giant shuts output to weather rout. As described in the student material this has become a major issue and could have significant impact on the plans for oil sands development. In the last 15 years this has changed dramatically. Canada is the leading source of oil imports for the u. Alberta oil sands industry quarterly update open government. Record low prices for heavy canadian crude have prompted one of the biggest operators in the oil sands to take the rare step of shutting production. The athabasca oil sands are at once a source of oil, of economic growth, and of environmental concern.
Bloomberg record low prices for heavy canadian crude have prompted one of the biggest operators in the oil sands to take the rare step of. Athabasca oil sands, canada cons 452 global perspectives. Oil sands, crude bitumen, or more technically bituminous sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. Media in category athabasca oil sands the following 112 files are in this category, out of 112 total. The athabasca oil sands are large deposits of bitumen, or extremely heavy crude oil, located in northeastern alberta, canada roughly centered around the boomtown of fort mcmurray. The heavy oil is called bitumen, which is defined as oil that is too heavy or thick to flow or be pumped without being diluted or heated. Athabasca oil corporation hangingstone hs1 sagd 12,000 2015 7 blackpearl resources inc.
Oil sands, also known as tar sands, or extra heavy oil, is a type of bitumen deposit. Blackrod sagd pilot project athabasca oil sands area scheme approval no. We offer investors excellent exposure to oil prices and are focused on maximizing profitability through prudent capital activity across a diversified asset base. Oil sands are actually found all over the world, and are sometimes referred to as tar sands or bituminous sands. Underground developments oil sands albertas energy heritage. What are the benefits to the athabasca oil sands answers. The sands are naturally occurring mixtures of sand or clay, water and an extremely dense and viscous form of. The athabasca oil sands represent a form of oil deposit significantly more expensive to collect and refine than traditional oil deposits, with operators of extraction facilities being much more vulnerable to fluctuations in the oil price than those at traditional oil fields with lower costs for startup and continued operation. Athabasca oil corporation is a differentiated canadian energy company focused on sustainable resource development of thermal and light oil assets. Water management all major energy production requires water water requirements for oil sands production vary depending on the technology used for extraction.
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