Oil sands are substantially heavier than other crude oils. Technically speaking, bitumen is a tar- like mixture of petroleum hydrocarbons with a density greater than 960 kilograms per cubic meter; light crude oil, by comparison, has a density as low as 793 kilograms per cubic meter.
Compared to conventional crude oil, bitumen requires some additional upgrading before it can be refined. It also requires dilution with lighter hydrocarbons to make it transportable by pipe.
Bitumen makes up about 10- 12 percent of the actual oil sands found in Alberta. The remainder is 80-85 percent mineral matter – including sand and clays – and 4-6 percent water.
While conventional crude oil flows naturally or is pumped from the ground, oil sands must be mined or recovered in situ – meaning ‘in place.’ Oil sands recovery processes include extraction and separation systems to remove the bitumen from sand and water.
Alberta’s oil sands comprise one of the world’s two largest sources of bitumen; the other is in Venezuela.
Oil sands are found in three places in Alberta – the Athabasca, Peace River and Cold Lake regions – and cover a total of nearly 140,800 square kilometers.
Oil sands currently represent 54 percent of Alberta’s total oil production, and about one-third of all the oil produced in Canada. By 2005, oil sands production is expected to represent 50 per cent of Canada’s total crude oil output, and 10 per cent of North American production.
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