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In 2007 the World Energy Council estimated that these oil sands areas contained at least two-thirds of the world's discovered bitumen in place at the time, [40] with an original oil-in-place (OOIP) reserve of 260,000,000,000 cubic metres (9.2 × 10 12 cu ft) (1.6 trn barrels), an amount comparable to the total world reserves of conventional oil.
The resources of heavy oil in the world are more than twice those of conventional light crude oil. In October 2009, the United States Geological Survey updated the Orinoco deposits (Venezuela) recoverable value to 513 billion barrels (8.16 × 10 10 m 3 ), [ 16 ] making this area one of the world's largest recoverable oil deposits.
This, as well as other, more general water saving techniques have allowed surface water usage by oil sands operations to decrease by more than threefold since production first began. [26] Relying upon gravity drainage, SAGD also requires comparatively thick and homogeneous reservoirs, and so is not suitable for all heavy-oil production areas.
The European Union's recent estimates that Canada's oil sands produce 22% more greenhouse gases (GHGs) than conventional crude have sent both sides into a war of words. Current and future industry ...
(Reuters) -Canada will fund an Indigenous-led study into how oil sands development impacts the health of local communities, the government said on Wednesday, following a tailings water leak from ...
Since the beginning of the oil sands development, there have been several leaks into the Athabasca River polluting it with oil and tailing pond water. The close proximity of the tailing ponds to the river drastically increases the likelihood of contamination due to ground water leakages.
Canada has most of the world's supply of natural bitumen, covering 140,000 square kilometres [16] (an area larger than England), giving it the second-largest proven oil reserves in the world. The Athabasca oil sands are the largest bitumen deposit in Canada and the only one accessible to surface mining, although recent technological ...
In 1943, the federal government decided to aid oil sands development, and took over the Abasand plant. The federal researchers concluded that the hot water process was uneconomic because of the extensive heat loss and proposed a "cold" water process. But work at the plant came to an end with a disastrous fire in 1945.