Need for Innovation

Alberta’s 175 billion barrels of established, recoverable oil sands reserves make Canada one of the top two countries in the world in economically recoverable crude oil reserves. The total oil sands resources in place for potential recovery is even more immense – an estimated 1.6 trillion barrels.

But only 10.6 per cent* of the total bitumen reserves in northern Alberta are recoverable using all current in situ and surface-mining processes and technologies.

Current bitumen-recovery methods (either surface mining or in situ thermal or solvent methods) and upgrading processes (thermal-cracking ‘cooking’ the bitumen at high temperatures to produce synthetic oil and other products) present significant environmental challenges.

Surface mining leads to massive open pit mines and their associated extraction facilities create large surface disturbances, which use huge amounts of water and generate enormous volumes of limited-use mine tailings waste. Also, about 93 per cent of the reserves are too deep to mine from the surface.

In situ methods require huge amounts of dwindling natural gas to make the steam used for injection and then heating and producing the bitumen, followed by the addition of large volumes of diluent for delivery of heavy oil to surface upgrading refineries. Current in situ methods create large land disturbances, increasing emission of greenhouses gases and unwanted byproducts such as “coke.”

Current recovery methods are clearly not sustainable in the long term. A flash of ingenuity and innovation is needed – a ‘step-change’ in bitumen recovery and upgrading technologies.

 

*Source: Alberta’s Reserves 2002 and Supply/Demand Outlook 2003-2012 EUB Statistical Series 2003-98