The Canadian oilsands cover an area of 140,200 km² of north-eastern Alberta. This is an area larger than the state of Florida in the United States of America. Alberta’s oil sands are second only to the Saudi Arabia reserves and currently only approximately 2 per cent of the established resource has been produced.
The development of these reserves represents a feat of technological innovation and involves various groups working together to develop inventive and economical means of extracting and processing this valuable resource. The oil sands consist of deposits of bitumen, viscous oil the consistency of molasses that remains in this state unless diluted with lighter hydrocarbons, or heated.
Time Magazine has described these vast reserves as “Canada’s greatest buried energy treasure,” and noted that they “could satisfy the world’s demand for petroleum for the next century”. Responsible development is promoted by the Alberta government through extensive planning and partnerships between itself, industry and the communities involved. The result of these collaborations is a competitive royalty administration that is highly attractive to investors, environmentally sensitive while also taking into account the impediments faced by developers.
According to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), there was approximately $14 billion in industry investment in Alberta’s oil sands in 2006. Also in 2006, approximately 47 per cent of all crude oil and equivalent produced in Canada was produced in Alberta’s oil sands. This industry is the result of multi-billion-dollar investments in infrastructure and technology that is required to develop this non-conventional resource. This scale of investment has been made due to anticipated growth estimating production level reaching 3 million barrels per day by 2020 and 5 million barrels per day by 2030. Alberta will easily develop its other key industries and become a Global Energy Leader with this level of activity and production.