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Topic: Athabasca Tar Sands

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	Tar sands Summary
		Tar sands, also referred to as oil sands or bituminous sands, are a combination of clay, sand, water, and bitumen.
		Tar sands deposits are found in over 70 countries throughout the world, but three quarters of the world's reserves are in two regions, Venezuela and Alberta, Canada.
		Venezuela prefers to call its tar sands "extra-heavy oil", and although distinction is somewhat academic, the extra-heavy crude oil deposit of the Orinoco Belt represent nearly 90% of the known global reserves of extra-heavy oil.
	www.bookrags.com /Tar_sands (3779 words)

	Peak Oil: Life After the Oil Crash (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		These sands consist of a mixture of crude bitumen, which is a semisolid form of crude oil (aka tar, because the hydrocarbons are more carbon and less hydrogen) that impregnates rocks that are composed primarily of sand and clay.
		Hughes, the tar sands "are a complex resource, requiring much time, energy, capital, and other inputs to achieve deliverability." Yes, they are a significant hydrocarbon resource, but the issue is whether or not they are ultimately "deliverable" as a useable end product, at a total price that Canada and its customers can afford.
		Tar sand bitumen needs a one-third blend of condensates or a half blend of synthetic light oil to move it through a pipeline.
	www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net /Archives2006/KingTarSands.html (3098 words)

	Tar sands - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Oil sands are often referred to as non-conventional oil, in order to distinguish the bitumen and synthetic oil extracted from oil sands from the free-flowing hydrocarbon mixtures known as crude oil traditionally produced from oil wells.
		The largest of these deposits, the Tar Sand Triangle as it is known, covers an area of 148,000 acres and is located in Wayne and Garfield Counties, between the Dirty Devil and Colorado Rivers.
		Originally, the sands were mined with draglines and bucket-wheel excavators and moved to the processing plants by conveyor belts.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Tar_sands (2891 words)

	Tar Sands: Unconventional Oil Comes of Age -- An E&E Publishing Special Report (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		There are the vast Athabasca sands that surround this town of 50,000, the Peace River sands to the west and the Cold Lake sands to the southeast, north of the town of Lloydminster.
		Tar sands production for many years had been considered cost-effective at $23 a barrel, and with improvements in exploration and extraction technologies, the price tipping point has fallen into the mid-teens, officials here say.
		At their height, tar sands royalties were $549 million in 1997, about 16 percent of total $3.4 billion in royalties collected in Alberta, the report says.
	www.eenews.net /specialreports/tarsands/sr_tarsands1.htm (2606 words)

	Tar Sands
		Tar sands are impregnated sands that yield mixtures of liquid hydrocarbon and require further processing other than mechanical blending before becoming finished petroleum products.
		Although tar sands occur in more than 70 countries, the two largest are Canada and Venezuela, with the bulk being found in four different regions of Alberta, Canada: areas of Athabasca, Wabasha, Cold Lake and Peace River.
		Developers are required to restore oil sand mining sites to at least the equivalent of their previous biological productivity; which is to say that the region as a whole forms an ecosystem and landscape that is as least as healthy and productive as the one that existed before it.
	ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu /102spring2002_Web_projects/M.Sexton (837 words)

	Tar Sands: Unconventional Oil Comes of Age -- An E&E Publishing Special Report (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		Environmental challenges posed by massive operations that strip-mine forests and extract bitumen embedded in sand beneath are proving as vast as Alberta's tar sands region, an area the size of Florida.
		The removal of the bitumen from the sands and the use of tailings as the base of the ponds and lakes means the chemistry underground will be very different from the region's normal state, raising questions about water flows and their effects on native plants and species, they say.
		The Athabasca River rises from the Columbia Icefield in the Canadian Rockies and flows 956 miles north and east through mountains, prairies, forests and peat bogs into Lake Athabasca on the far northeast border between Alberta and Saskatchewan in Wood Buffalo National Park.
	www.eenews.net /specialreports/tarsands/sr_tarsands2.htm (3037 words)

	Tar Sands • Hubbert Peak of Oil Production
		Alberta's oil sands comprise one of the world's two largest sources of bitumen; the other is in Venezuela.
		The Athabasca oil sands in northern Alberta contain an estimated 870 billion to 1.3 trillion barrels of oil -- an amount equal to or greater than all of the conventional oil extracted to date.
		Residents of northern Alberta have engaged in activist campaigns to close down the oil sands plants because of devastating environmental problems, including displacement of native people, destruction of boreal forests, livestock deaths, and an increase in miscarriages.
	www.hubbertpeak.com /tarsands (749 words)

	IMPERIAL, CITIES SERVICE, RICHFIELD & ROYALITE JOIN FOR COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH IN ATHABASCA TAR SANDS...
		Areas in which these sands are at or near the surface contain in excess of 40 billion barrels of recoverable oil, about the same amount as the proved crude oil reserves of North America.
		In the Athabasca Project, the sands are put through a series of processes, which remove the oil and return clean white sand to the mined areas.
		The sequence of operations is as follows: The bituminous sands are delivered by the belt conveyor from the bucket wheel to the extraction unit.
	www.nickles.com /history/article.asp?article=history\history_0602.html (2009 words)

	Alexander's Gas & Oil Connections - Could Canada's tar sands prove the ultimate anti-OPEC resource?
		For decades, they have been complaining that the official bean-counters have unfairly neglected the energy trapped in the Athabasca tar sands of Alberta-rock formations laced with hydrocarbons that can be mined and processed to yield barrels of oil.
		An article declared recently that some 180 bn barrels of oil trapped in those tar sands should now be considered economically viable, and so classified as "conventional" oil.
		If the country's tar sands are ever to yield their bounty to the world's consumers, producers must overcome technical obstacles in three areas: complexity, cleanliness and cost.
	www.gasandoil.com /goc/news/ntn33230.htm (1518 words)

	Oil (Tar) Sands
		Today these oil sands are recovered in open-pit mines by truck-and-shovel operations in which the world's largest Caterpillar 797 and 797B trucks have payloads of 380 tons.
		Oil sand is transported to processing plants, where hot or warm water separates the bitumen from the sand, followed by dilution with lighter hydrocarbons and upgrading to synthetic crude oil (SCO).
		About 20 percent of the oil sands reserves in Alberta are recoverable by surface mining; in-situ technologies (such as Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage, or SAGD, and Cyclic Steam Stimulation, or CSS) need to be used for the remaining 80 percent of the oil sands that are buried at depth (greater than 75 meters).
	emd.aapg.org /technical_areas/oil_sands.cfm (612 words)

	Alexander's Gas & Oil Connections - Canada: US oil addiction could make us sick
		The Athabasca tar sands project in Alberta, coupled with the lack of a made-in-Canada energy strategy, could soon prove to be an albatross for the new Harper government.
		The tar sands, however, could contain as much as 2.5 tn barrels of oil, but new and questionable technologies would be required to access these reserves at enormous financial and environmental costs.
		Moreover, tar sands developments will require huge amounts of natural gas to extract the deeper reserves of oil from the bitumen and process it as crude oil.
	www.gasandoil.com /goc/news/ntn62373.htm (882 words)

	FNF: Albertas Oil Sands: "1.7 to 2.5 trillion barrels of oil" JE 2006-04-06 ... (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		Hot water and caustic soda (NaOH) is added to the sand, and the resulting slurry is piped to the extraction plant where it is agitated and the oil skimmed from the top.
		Provided that the water chemistry is appropriate to allow bitumen to separate from sand and clay, the combination of hot water and agitation releases bitumen from the tar sand, and allows small air bubbles to attach to the bitumen droplets.
		As traditional or conventional sources of oil suffer from depletion, new sources of oil such as tar sands will increasingly be relied upon to make up the difference in future global oil production.
	www.hi.is /~joner/eaps/glob_Albertas_Oil_Sands.htm (932 words)

	The Epoch Times \| The (Other) High Price of Oil
		Here, in the middle of dense and pristine boreal forest, and overlooking the Athabasca river, the air bears a toxic stench, and the river is polluted; its fish, residents say, are dangerous to eat.
		Residents living downstream on the Athabasca fear that pollution in the river and surrounding environment is endangering their health.
		But although the oil sands are taking their toll on the environment, and even on the health of northern Albertans, they do provide jobs from Calgary to Fort Chipewyan.
	www.theepochtimes.com /news/6-6-22/43064.html (1622 words)

	Belly of the Beast: Tar Sands Will Save Us
		There is a very good treatise on tar sands – especially the Canadian kind – here on the ASPO web site.
		The largest of these deposits is in Alberta, Canada and is called the Athabasca Tar Sands (or Oil Sands) deposit.
		When people speak of tar sands, they are usually referring to this deposit in addition to some nearby deposits at Cold Lake and Peace River.
	beastsbelly.blogspot.com /2005/08/tar-sands-will-save-us.html (648 words)

	Documents in the Classroom
		One such document is Karl Clark's typewritten diary of his experiences in the Athabasca tar sands, the "Investigation of Bituminous Sands and Related Waterways and the Athabasca River, K. Clark and N. Melnyk" (University of Alberta Archives.
		Clark, who was born in Georgetown, Ontario in 1888, spent much of his time in the investigation of the Athabasca tar sands and their possibility for economic development.
		Although Clark's outstanding contributions to the study of the tar sands will be the subject of discussion for years to come, there is additional knowledge of community life to be gained by a closer analysis of his day-to-day reminiscences of his frequent field trips.
	www.quasar.ualberta.ca /css/CSS_35_1/documents_in_the_classroom.htm (926 words)

	blog2006: Fuelling Fortress America
		In terms of the social costs, the dramatic expansion of the tar sands development has created labour shortages, exacerbated by infrastructure shortages in Fort McMurray, that increase the cost of living in the area.
		As the tar sands consume the gas, the province is already returning to coal for power, and losing value-added jobs in the petrochemicals sector.
		As that clean source of fuel expires, the tar sands are turning to non-conventional gas sources, all of which have higher social and environmental costs: the Mackenzie Valley pipeline, coal-bed methane, and in-situ (extraction of the gas from the bitumen).
	www.sqwalk.com /blog2006/000755.html (1937 words)

	Athabasca Tar Sands \| Sprol
		That's because the so-called oil sands are about ten percent bitumen, a tarry substance, and 85% clay, sand, and rocks.
		To remove the bitumen from the sand, they wash it, using the Clark water-based extraction process, which involves hot water, aeration, and allowing the bitumen particles to settle out.
		athabasca tar sands, bitumen, canada, oil sands, crude oil, water aeration, ten percent, oil slick, barrel oil, oil production, energy shortage, productive ecosystem, biological productivity, future technology, lot of water, liquid fuels, current technology
	www.sprol.com /?p=80 (844 words)

	Oil Sands: Interesting Thing of the Day
		Once separated from the sand and minerals, the crude oil is sometimes referred to as heavy oil, though that term is often used interchangeably with “oil sands” or “tar sands” as well.
		Most of the oil sands are not on or near the surface of the ground; workers must sometimes dig 200 feet (61m) or more to reach the deposits.
		Once the sand and water are removed, the bitumen must be processed further under high heat to remove impurities and break it down into a more useful and smoother-flowing oil.
	itotd.com /articles/233/oil-sands (1312 words)

	Random Works of the Web » Blog Archive » Athabasca Oil Sands (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		These oil sands consists of a mixture of crude bitumen (a semi-sold form of crude oil), silica sand, clay minerals, and water.
		The Athabasca oil sands are named after the Athabasca River which cuts through the heart of the deposit, and are readily observed on the river banks.
		The overburden consisting water-logged muskeg on top of clay and barren sand, while the underlying oil sands are typically 40 to 60 metres thick and sit on top of relatively flat limestone.
	random.dragonslife.org /athabasca-oil-sands/4407 (1835 words)

	BBC - h2g2 - Athabasca Tar Sands - A427006
		The Athabasca region in northern Alberta, Canada, is a region of bare plains and scraggly forests.
		Its value is in its tar-sands, a fine sand infused with thick fl crude oil, right on the surface of the land, and going hundreds of meters deep.
		The sand is drawn from open pit mines using two processes.
	www.bbc.co.uk /dna/h2g2/alabaster/A427006 (470 words)

	2006 Boston ASPO: The Canadian tar sands \| EnergyBulletin.net \| Peak Oil News Clearinghouse
		All three of these strip mines are associated with massive handling and processing systems that mine the rock with giant earthmoving equipment and hauling trucks the size of a McMansion.
		These types of alternate solutions are not even on the drawing boards, and hence are highly speculative.
		Begin with the fact that bitumen is thick, heavy, and viscous.
	www.energybulletin.net /22358.html (2964 words)

	OpinionJournal - Extra
		To pick just one example among many, finding costs are essentially zero for the 3.5 trillion barrels of oil that soak the clay in the Orinoco basin in Venezuela, and the Athabasca tar sands in Alberta, Canada.
		Tar sands, by contrast, are simply strip mined, like Western coal, and that's very cheap--but then you spend another $10, or maybe $15, separating the oil from the dirt.
		To do that, oil or gas extracted from the site itself is burned to heat water, which is then used to "crack" the bitumen from the clay; the bitumen is then chemically split to produce lighter petroleum.
	www.opinionjournal.com /extra/?id=110006228 (1049 words)

	SFL ORG. News Center Think-tank wants to see a tar sands slow-down
		The current rate of development in the province's tar sands is dangerous, unsustainable and risking the energy security of Canada for the benefit of American interests, said Parkland Institute director Gordon Laxer and journalist Hugh McCullum, who authored the report
		"The Bush regime is very much focused on the tar sands as the strategic salvation for their domestic and military needs," said Laxer.
		When I was in Nova Scotia, the people I met there all joked about how they were all going to the tar sands.
	www.sflorg.com /earthnews/en030706_01.html (545 words)

	The Ruckus Society : Canada's Tar Sands: Fueling U.S. Oil Addiction
		For most people, there is no knowledge out there that the tar sands development is and will be the dirtiest and most destructive oil development known and it will contribute devastatingly to more global climate change and impact the face of the Arctic.
		Also the reason for all this is that Canada needs to maintain its duties under the North American Free Trade Agreement for being the #1 importer of Oil and Gas to the US, and not everyone knows that it's not the Middle East that supplies the USA but Canada.
		They will be showcasing how the Tar Sands will be a good thing for the economy, for the international relation between the United States and Canada, and of course to benefit more to the oil corporations.
	ruckus.org /article.php?id=196 (655 words)

	Canadian Dimension / Articles / Insatiable Americans Are Endangering Our Energy Security (Bruce Campbell, Tony Clarke, ... (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		The tar sands, however, could contain as much as 2.5 trillion barrels of oil, but new and questionable technologies would be required to access these reserves at enormous financial and environmental costs.
		As a result, the Athabasca tar sands has become the centrepiece of a continental energy plan to send massive new oil and gas supplies to the U.S. Three major crude-oil producing projects are in operation with another six planned over the next 20 years.
		Tony Clarke is director of the Polaris Institute; Bruce Campbell, is executive director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and Gordon Laxer, is director of the Parkland Institute in Alberta.
	canadiandimension.com /articles/2006/03/13/398 (939 words)

	Stop the Mackenzie Valley pipeline
		The Athabasca tar sands in Alberta constitute an
		tar sands will reach 60 per cent by 2010.
		of the Alberta tar sands until a Canadian Energy Strategy is implemented.
	www.gnn.tv /forum/thread.php?id=8554 (380 words)

	Information about Canada FDC: 14¢ Athabasca Tar Sands (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		The Canadian people have skillfully developed their country's enormous natural resources, and have made Canada one of the most prosperous nations in the world.
		This is not an exaggeration as the development of the tar sands along the Athabasca River in Alberta and the silver mines of Ontario readily demonstrate.
		The tar sands in Alberta contain up to a trillion barrels of bitumen, more than the reserves of Saudi Arabia.
	www.unicover.com /EA4NB4DQ.HTM (420 words)

	Innovation Alberta: Article Details
		So the Alberta government and oil companies, at the time, estimated that some, maybe around you know 5-6% of the total amount of the oil sands was exploitable using mining.
		He says he was sitting on a small hill and he watched the huge orb of the sun sinking below the sands and he thought to himself, ‘the sun is a thermal nuclear power source, maybe we could use something similar to develop oil resources around the world.’ He wasn’t alone in these ideas.
		The United States Atomic Energy Commission had also, there were other people working with them who had thought about this idea, and there are some suggestions in the literature that I’ve looked at that in the Soviet Union that they had experimented with something similar of using nuclear devices to stimulate oil and gas production.
	www.innovationalberta.com /article.php?articleid=90 (1094 words)

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