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Naturally occurring bitumen is chemically more similar to asphalt than to coal tar, and the term oil sands (or oilsands) is more commonly used by industry in the producing areas than tar sands because synthetic oil is manufactured from the bitumen, [20] and due to the feeling that the terminology of tar sands is less politically acceptable to ...
The Tar Sand Triangle is the largest deposit of oil sands in the United States known today. It contains about 6.3 billion barrels of heavy oil, but is thought to have originally held more. At one point the Tar Sand Triangle could have consisted of 16 billion barrels of heavy oil, almost as much as in Utah today. [3]
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, bitumen is further distinguished as extra-heavy oil with a higher viscosity (i.e., resistance to flow): "Natural bitumen, also called tar sands or oil sands, shares the attributes of heavy oil but is yet more dense and viscous. Natural bitumen is oil having a viscosity greater than 10,000 cP."
The Athabasca oil sands, also known as the Athabasca tar sands, are large deposits of oil sands rich in bitumen, a heavy and viscous form of petroleum, in northeastern Alberta, Canada. These reserves are one of the largest sources of unconventional oil in the world, making Canada a significant player in the global energy market. [3]
Much of the petroleum discovered in California during the 19th century was from observations of seeps. [32] The world's largest natural oil seepage is Coal Oil Point in the Santa Barbara Channel, California. [33] Three of the better known tar seep locations in California are McKittrick Tar Pits, [34] Carpinteria Tar Pits and the La Brea Tar ...
The La Brea Tar Pits emit about 500 kg of methane per day. [20] The emissions are the highest along the 6th Street Fault, which is the conduit that feeds the tar pits with crude oil from the sediments underneath Earth's surface. [20]
Their carbon footprints, however, are radically different: conventional reservoirs use the natural energy in the environment to flow oil and gas to the surface unaided; unconventional reservoirs require putting energy into the ground for extraction, either as heat (e.g. tar sands and oil shales) or as pressure (e.g. shale gas and CBM).
In May of that same year they discovered tar sands in the underlying Monterey Formation from which they were able to produce about 90 barrels (14 m 3) of oil per day. [6] Oil wells, tanks, and burn-off flame (left). Agriculture irrigation pipes storage (foreground). More adventurous drillers found deeper producing horizons with lighter oil.