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.
112-613: An upgrader is a facility that upgrades bitumen (extra heavy oil) into synthetic crude oil. Upgrader plants are typically located close to oil sands production, for example, the Athabasca oil sands in Alberta , Canada or the Orinoco tar sands in Venezuela . Upgrading means using fractional distillation and/or chemical treatment to convert bitumen so it can be handled by oil refineries. At
224-639: A Cree trader, brought a sample of bituminous sands to the Hudson's Bay Company post at York Factory on Hudson Bay where Henry Kelsey was the manager. In 1778, Peter Pond , another fur trader and a founder of the rival North West Company , became the first European to see the Athabasca deposits after exploring the Methye Portage which allowed access to the rich fur resources of the Athabasca River system from
336-540: A capacity of 45,000 barrels per day (7,200 m /d), it marked the beginning of commercial development of the Athabasca oil sands. In 2013 McKenzie-Brown listed industrialist J. Howard Pew as one of the six visionaries who built the Athabasca oil sands. By the time of his death in 1971, the Pew family were ranked by Forbes magazine as one of the half-dozen wealthiest families in America. The Great Canadian Oil Sands Limited (then
448-539: A company previously formed by Claridge. Claridge's Patent Asphalte Company – formed in 1838 for the purpose of introducing to Britain "Asphalte in its natural state from the mine at Pyrimont Seysell in France", – "laid one of the first asphalt pavements in Whitehall". Trials were made of the pavement in 1838 on the footway in Whitehall, the stable at Knightsbridge Barracks, "and subsequently on
560-700: A day, equal to a quarter of Canada's oil production, was halted as a result of the fire in May. This continued into June at a rate of 700,000 barrels per day. The lost output was a contributing factor to rises in global oil prices. The scaled back operations, along with a refinery outage in Edmonton, caused many gas stations to run out of gas throughout Western Canada . In 2018, oil sands production reached 3.1 million barrels per day (490,000 m /d). Until 2014, industry groups believed oil sands production levels could reach 5 Mbbl/d (790,000 m /d) by 2030. As of 2021, after
672-560: A dry retorting. During this process, oil sand is moved through a rotating drum, cracking the bitumen with heat and producing lighter hydrocarbons. Although tested, this technology is not in commercial use yet. The original process for extraction of bitumen from the sands was developed by Dr. Karl Clark , working with the Alberta Research Council in the 1920s. Today, all of the producers doing surface mining, such as Syncrude Canada, Suncor Energy and Albian Sands Energy etc., use
784-428: A minimum, this means reducing its viscosity so that it can be pumped through pipelines (bitumen is 1000x more viscous than light crude oil). However this process often also includes separating out heavy fractions and reducing sulfur, nitrogen and metals like nickel and vanadium. Upgrading may involve multiple processes: Research into using biotechnology to perform some of these processes at lower temperatures and cost
896-508: A mixture of pitch and bitumen, was used in the Republic of Ragusa (now Dubrovnik , Croatia ) for tarring of ships. An 1838 edition of Mechanics Magazine cites an early use of asphalt in France. A pamphlet dated 1621, by "a certain Monsieur d'Eyrinys, states that he had discovered the existence (of asphaltum) in large quantities in the vicinity of Neufchatel", and that he proposed to use it in
1008-651: A moldable putty that hardened into handles. Earlier, less-careful excavations at Le Moustier prevent conclusive identification of the archaeological culture and age, but the European Mousterian style of these tools suggests they are associated with Neanderthals during the late Middle Paleolithic into the early Upper Paleolithic between 60,000 and 35,000 years before present. It is the earliest evidence of multicomponent adhesive in Europe. The use of natural bitumen for waterproofing and as an adhesive dates at least to
1120-783: A potential record high at the end of the year of approximately 5.3 million barrels per day (bpd). The surge in production is attributed mainly to growth in Alberta's oilsands. The expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline —the only oil pipeline to the West Coast—will further facilitate this increase, with its capacity set to increase significantly, to 890,000 barrels per day from 300,000 bpd currently. Despite this growth, there are warnings that it might be short-lived, with production potentially plateauing after 2024. Canada's anticipated increase in oil output exceeds that of other major producers like
1232-481: A press release from Diana McQueen's office, the Minister of Energy and Sustainable Development. The provincial government moved to develop the agency after widespread public criticism by environmentalists, aboriginal groups and scientists, who claimed the oil sands would have a devastating, long-term effect on the environment if left unchecked. On 17 June 2013 the newly formed corporation, Alberta Energy Regulator (AER)
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#17328699770621344-729: A result of oil price increases since 2003, the existing mines have been greatly expanded and new ones were built. According to the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, 2005 production of crude bitumen in the Athabasca oil sands was as follows: As of 2006, oil sands production had increased to 1,126,000 barrels per day (179,000 m /d). Oil sands were by then the source of 62% of Alberta's total oil production and 47% of all oil produced in Canada. As of 2010, oil sands production had increased to over 1.6 million barrels per day (250,000 m /d) to exceed conventional oil production in Canada. 53% of this
1456-665: A result of the easy accessibility, the world's first oil-sands mine was in the Athabasca oil sands. Commercial production of oil from the Athabasca oil sands began in 1967, with the opening of the Great Canadian Oil Sands (GCOS) plant in Fort McMurray . It was the first operational oil sands project in the world, owned and operated by the American parent company, Sun Oil Company . When the US$ 240 million plant officially opened with
1568-747: A result of the price declines in the second half of 2008. The revised forecast predicted that Canadian oil sands production would continue to grow, but at a slower rate than previously predicted. There would be minimal changes to 2008–2012 production, but by 2020 production could be 300,000 barrels per day (48,000 m /d) less than its prior predictions. This would mean that Canadian oil sands production would grow from 1.2 million barrels per day (190,000 m /d) in 2008 to 3.3 million barrels per day (520,000 m /d) in 2020, and that total Canadian oil production would grow from 2.7 to 4.1 million barrels per day (430,000 to 650,000 m /d) in 2020. Even accounting for project cancellations, this would place Canada among
1680-573: A retail gasoline distributor owned by Energy Transfer Partners of Dallas , Texas. In Canada, Suncor Energy converted all of its Sunoco stations (which were all in Ontario) to Petro-Canada sites in order to unify all of its downstream retail operations under the Petro-Canada banner and discontinue paying licensing fees for the Sunoco brand. Nationwide, Petro-Canada's upstream product supplier and parent company
1792-576: A runaway pace of development". Industry is the core force of oil sands development. The first major players, Suncor Energy and Syncrude , dominated the market until the 1990s. Currently there are 64 companies operating several hundred projects. The majority of production now comes from foreign-owned corporations, and the maintenance of a favourable climate for these corporations grants them strong influence; much stronger than that of non-productive stakeholders, such as citizens and environmental groups. Governance (policy, administration, regulation) over
1904-680: A slowdown in investment, analyst are predicting it could reach 3.8 Mbbl/d (600,000 m /d) by that time. Canada is the largest source of oil imported by the United States, supplying 3 million barrels per day (480,000 m /d) chiefly from oil sands sources as of 2019. Industry observers went from believing there might be excess pipeline capacity to warning that it was insufficient to accommodate oil sands production growth, after several pipeline projects were abandoned or cancelled. The North Gateway project to Kitimat, British Columbia , which would have been built by Enbridge , operator of
2016-463: A steep learning curve to deal with before their bitumen mining techniques became efficient. In the intervening years, more effective in-situ production techniques were developed, particularly steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). In-situ methods became increasingly important because only about 20% of the Athabasca oil sands were shallow enough to recover by surface mining, and the SAGD method in particular
2128-477: A subsidiary of Sun Oil Company but now incorporated into an independent company known as Suncor Energy Inc. ) produced 30,000 barrels per day (4,800 m /d) of synthetic crude oil. The true size of the Canadian oil sands deposits became known in the 1970s. The Syncrude mine is now the largest mine (by area) in the world, with mines potentially covering 140,000 km (54,000 sq mi). (Although there
2240-522: A temperature of 50 to 150 °C (120 to 300 °F). Due to pressure from the rising of the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Alberta, 80 to 55 million years ago, the oil was driven northeast hundreds of kilometres and trapped into underground sand deposits left behind by ancient river beds and ocean beaches, thus forming the oil sands. Bitumen use goes back to the Middle Paleolithic , where it
2352-623: A variation of the Clark Hot Water Extraction (CHWE) process. In this process, the ores are mined using open-pit mining technology. The mined ore is then crushed for size reduction. Hot water at 50–80 °C (122–176 °F) is added to the ore and the formed slurry is transported using hydrotransport line to a primary separation vessel (PSV) where bitumen is recovered by flotation as bitumen froth. The recovered bitumen froth consists of 60% bitumen, 30% water and 10% solids by weight. The recovered bitumen froth needs to be cleaned to reject
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#17328699770622464-424: A variety of ways – "principally in the construction of air-proof granaries, and in protecting, by means of the arches, the water-courses in the city of Paris from the intrusion of dirt and filth", which at that time made the water unusable. "He expatiates also on the excellence of this material for forming level and durable terraces" in palaces, "the notion of forming such terraces in the streets not one likely to cross
2576-725: Is Suncor Energy. Suncor Energy continues to operate just one Sunoco retail site in Ontario. At the turn of the 21st century, oil sands development in Canada started to take off, with an expansion at the Suncor mine, a new mine and expansion at Syncrude, and a new mine by Royal Dutch Shell associated with their new Scotford Upgrader near Edmonton . Three new large steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) projects were added – Foster Creek, Surmont, and MacKay River – by different companies, all of which have since been bought by larger companies. Shell Canada 's third mine began operating in 2003. However, as
2688-424: Is a form of sandstone impregnated with bitumen. The oil sands of Alberta, Canada are a similar material. Neither of the terms "asphalt" or "bitumen" should be confused with tar or coal tars . Tar is the thick liquid product of the dry distillation and pyrolysis of organic hydrocarbons primarily sourced from vegetation masses, whether fossilized as with coal, or freshly harvested. The majority of bitumen, on
2800-432: Is a visually similar black, thermoplastic material produced by the destructive distillation of coal . During the early and mid-20th century, when town gas was produced, coal tar was a readily available byproduct and extensively used as the binder for road aggregates. The addition of coal tar to macadam roads led to the word " tarmac ", which is now used in common parlance to refer to road-making materials. However, since
2912-406: 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 oil sand, and allows small air bubbles to attach to the bitumen droplets. The bitumen froth floats to
3024-487: Is carried out by a number of provincial institutions. Ottawa has avoided direct investment, preferring to improve the investment climate. A prime example of this occurred in 1994, when the federal government rolled out tax breaks allowing 100% of oil sands capital investments to be written off as accelerated capital cost allowances. The provincial government had a much more direct role in development; investing directly in numerous pilot projects, undertaking joint ventures with
3136-464: Is estimated to contain 10 million tons. About 70% of annual bitumen production is destined for road construction , its primary use. In this application, bitumen is used to bind aggregate particles like gravel and forms a substance referred to as asphalt concrete , which is colloquially termed asphalt . Its other main uses lie in bituminous waterproofing products, such as roofing felt and roof sealant. In material sciences and engineering ,
3248-504: Is free flowing. The ERCB has also approved 20 projects that are testing unproven technology as well as new versions of existing technologies. Since Great Canadian Oil Sands (now Suncor) started operation of its mine in 1967, bitumen has been extracted on a commercial scale from the Athabasca Oil Sands by surface mining . In the Athabasca sands there are very large amounts of bitumen covered by little overburden, making surface mining
3360-488: Is in a fluid state and when mixed with gum, the resinous substance collected from the spruce fir, it serves to gum the Indians' canoes." He was followed in 1799 by mapmaker David Thompson and in 1819 by British Naval officer John Franklin . John Richardson did the first serious scientific assessment of the oil sands in 1848 on his way north to search for Franklin's lost expedition . The first government-sponsored survey of
3472-472: Is oil underlying 142,200 km (54,900 sq mi), which may be disturbed by drilling and in situ extraction, only 4,800 km (1,900 sq mi) may potentially be surface mined, and 904 km (349 sq mi) has to date been mined.) Development was inhibited by declining world oil prices, and the second mine, operated by the Syncrude consortium, did not begin operating until 1978, after
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3584-414: Is ongoing. Bitumen Bitumen ( UK : / ˈ b ɪ tʃ ʊ m ɪ n / BIH -chuum-in , US : / b ɪ ˈ tj uː m ɪ n , b aɪ -/ bih- TEW -min, by- ) is an immensely viscous constituent of petroleum . Depending on its exact composition it can be a sticky, black liquid or an apparently solid mass that behaves as a liquid over very large time scales. In American English ,
3696-764: Is related to the English word mummy . The Egyptians' primary source of bitumen was the Dead Sea , which the Romans knew as Palus Asphaltites (Asphalt Lake). In approximately 40 AD, Dioscorides described the Dead Sea material as Judaicum bitumen , and noted other places in the region where it could be found. The Sidon bitumen is thought to refer to material found at Hasbeya in Lebanon. Pliny also refers to bitumen being found in Epirus . Bitumen
3808-461: Is sometimes sold combined with other materials, often without being labeled as anything other than simply "bitumen". Of particular note is the use of re-refined engine oil bottoms – "REOB" or "REOBs" – the residue of recycled automotive engine oil collected from the bottoms of re-refining vacuum distillation towers, in the manufacture of asphalt. REOB contains various elements and compounds found in recycled engine oil: additives to
3920-507: Is sometimes specified by the term crude bitumen . Its viscosity is similar to that of cold molasses while the material obtained from the fractional distillation of crude oil boiling at 525 °C (977 °F) is sometimes referred to as "refined bitumen". The Canadian province of Alberta has most of the world's reserves of natural bitumen in the Athabasca oil sands , which cover 142,000 square kilometres (55,000 sq mi), an area larger than England . The Latin word traces to
4032-455: Is that it is the only one shallow enough to be suitable for surface mining . About 10% of the Athabasca oil sands are covered by less than 75 metres (246 ft) of overburden . Until 2009, the surface mineable area (SMA) was defined by the ERCB, an agency of the Alberta government, to cover 37 contiguous townships (about 3,400 km or 1,300 sq mi) north of Fort McMurray . In June 2009,
4144-527: Is the prevalent term in much of the world; however, in American English , asphalt is more commonly used. To help avoid confusion, the terms "liquid asphalt", "asphalt binder", or "asphalt cement" are used in the U.S. to distinguish it from asphalt concrete. Colloquially, various forms of bitumen are sometimes referred to as " tar ", as in the name of the La Brea Tar Pits . Naturally occurring bitumen
4256-429: Is typical of some petroleum. The substance is soluble in carbon disulfide . It is commonly modelled as a colloid , with asphaltenes as the dispersed phase and maltenes as the continuous phase. "It is almost impossible to separate and identify all the different molecules of bitumen, because the number of molecules with different chemical structure is extremely large". Asphalt may be confused with coal tar , which
4368-445: Is used for the oil refinery product. Diluted bitumen (diluted with naphtha to make it flow in pipelines) is known as " dilbit " in the Canadian petroleum industry, while bitumen " upgraded " to synthetic crude oil is known as "syncrude", and syncrude blended with bitumen is called "synbit". "Bitumen" is still the preferred geological term for naturally occurring deposits of the solid or semi-solid form of petroleum. "Bituminous rock"
4480-452: The 1973 oil crisis sparked investor interest. However, the price of oil subsided afterwards and although the 1979 energy crisis caused oil prices to peak again, during the 1980s, oil prices declined to very low levels causing considerable retrenchment in the oil industry. In 1979, Sun formed Suncor by merging its Canadian refining and retailing interests with Great Canadian Oil Sands and its conventional oil and gas interests. In 1981,
4592-477: The Alberta oil sands is focused on economic development, and has historically been dominated by the interests of two primary actors; government (federal and provincial) and industry. Canadian federalism forms the functions and roles of each level of government, in that constitutional power is split so that neither is superior to the other. The Constitution Act, 1867 , Section 109 ensures the province full ownership of
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4704-665: The Enbridge Pipeline System which also serves the area, was cancelled in 2016. Similarly, after lengthy environmentalist and First Nation group opposition, Keystone XL , a pipeline project from Alberta to Gulf coast refineries, was cancelled in 2021. Other projects, using existing rights of way, are being built, like Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain Expansion , nationalized in 2018, or Enbridge's Line 9 , reversed to feed refineries in Quebec. Between January 2019 and December 2020,
4816-527: The Proto-Indo-European root *gʷet- "pitch". The expression "bitumen" originated in the Sanskrit , where we find the words "jatu", meaning "pitch", and "jatu-krit", meaning "pitch creating", "pitch producing" (referring to coniferous or resinous trees). The Latin equivalent is claimed by some to be originally "gwitu-men" (pertaining to pitch), and by others, "pixtumens" (exuding or bubbling pitch), which
4928-579: The Uinta Basin in Utah, US. The Tar Sand Triangle deposit, for example, is roughly 6% bitumen. Bitumen may occur in hydrothermal veins . An example of this is within the Uinta Basin of Utah , in the US, where there is a swarm of laterally and vertically extensive veins composed of a solid hydrocarbon termed Gilsonite . These veins formed by the polymerization and solidification of hydrocarbons that were mobilized from
5040-425: The alpha privative , and σφάλλειν ( sphallein ), "to cause to fall, baffle, (in passive) err, (in passive) be balked of". The first use of asphalt by the ancients was as a cement to secure or join various objects, and it thus seems likely that the name itself was expressive of this application. Specifically, Herodotus mentioned that bitumen was brought to Babylon to build its gigantic fortification wall. From
5152-419: The tailings , Diluent Recovery Units to recover naphtha from the froth, inclined plate settlers (IPS) and disc centrifuges . These allow the extraction plants to recover well over 90% of the bitumen in the sand. After oil extraction, the spent sand and other materials are then returned to the mine, which is eventually reclaimed . Alberta Taciuk Process technology extracts bitumen from oil sands through
5264-471: The 1970s, when natural gas succeeded town gas, bitumen has completely overtaken the use of coal tar in these applications. Other examples of this confusion include La Brea Tar Pits and the Canadian tar sands , both of which actually contain natural bitumen rather than tar. "Pitch" is another term sometimes informally used at times to refer to asphalt, as in Pitch Lake . For economic and other reasons, bitumen
5376-577: The 19th century. One of the earliest surviving examples of its use can be seen at Highgate Cemetery where it was used in 1839 to seal the roof of the terrace catacombs. On the London stockmarket, there were various claims as to the exclusivity of bitumen quality from France, Germany and England. And numerous patents were granted in France, with similar numbers of patent applications being denied in England due to their similarity to each other. In England, "Claridge's
5488-651: The Alberta Energy Regulator "the authority to administer the Public Lands Act , the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act and the Water Act , with regards to energy development." The Alberta Energy Regulator will enforce environmental laws and issue environmental and water permits, responsibilities formerly the mandate of Alberta Environment. The key characteristic of the Athabasca deposit
5600-423: The Alberta government announced it would follow the recommendations of a working group to develop an agency that would monitor the environmental impact of the oil sands. "The new science-based agency will begin work in the oil sands region and will focus on what is monitored, how it's monitored and where it's monitored. This will include integrated and coordinated monitoring of land, air, water and biodiversity," said
5712-508: The Alberta government imposed a quota to adjust production to pipeline export capacity. To compensate for pipeline capacity limitations, shipment of oil by rail increased from less than 50 thousand to 400 thousand barrels per day (64,000 m /d) between 2012 and 2020. As of December 2008, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers revised its 2008–2020 crude oil forecasts to account for project cancellations and cutbacks as
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#17328699770625824-696: The Arctic Ocean. Her photographs were reproduced in 2011–2012 in an exhibit at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa, and included photos of Count Alfred Von Hammerstein's oil drill works along the Athabasca River. In 1926, Karl Clark of the University of Alberta received a patent for a hot water separation process which was the forerunner of today's thermal extraction processes. Several attempts to implement it had varying degrees of success. Project Oilsand
5936-861: The Bastenne company, were in production", with asphalt being laid as paving at Brighton, Herne Bay, Canterbury, Kensington, the Strand, and a large floor area in Bunhill-row, while meantime Claridge's Whitehall paving "continue(d) in good order". The Bonnington Chemical Works manufactured asphalt using coal tar and by 1839 had installed it in Bonnington . In 1838, there was a flurry of entrepreneurial activity involving bitumen, which had uses beyond paving. For example, bitumen could also be used for flooring, damp proofing in buildings, and for waterproofing of various types of pools and baths, both of which were also proliferating in
6048-593: The Government of Ontario purchased a 25% stake in the company but divested it in 1993. In 1995, Sun Oil also divested its interest in the company, although Suncor maintained the Sunoco retail brand in Canada. Suncor took advantage of these two divestitures to become an independent, widely held public company . Suncor continued to grow and continued to produce more and more oil from its oil sands operations regardless of fluctuating market prices, and eventually became bigger than its former parent company. In 2009, Suncor acquired
6160-464: The Greek, the word passed into late Latin, and thence into French ( asphalte ) and English ("asphaltum" and "asphalt"). In French, the term asphalte is used for naturally occurring asphalt-soaked limestone deposits, and for specialised manufactured products with fewer voids or greater bitumen content than the "asphaltic concrete" used to pave roads. Bitumen mixed with clay was usually called "asphaltum", but
6272-571: The Hudson Bay watershed. In 1788, fur trader Alexander Mackenzie , after whom the Mackenzie River was later named, traveled along routes to both the Arctic and Pacific Ocean wrote: "At about 24 miles [39 km] from the fork (of the Athabasca and Clearwater Rivers) are some bituminous fountains into which a pole of 20 feet [6.1 m] long may be inserted without the least resistance. The bitumen
6384-708: The Parc ( Ain ) and the Puy-de-la-Poix ( Puy-de-Dôme )", although it could also be made artificially. One of the earliest uses in France was the laying of about 24,000 square yards of Seyssel asphalt at the Place de la Concorde in 1835. Among the earlier uses of bitumen in the United Kingdom was for etching. William Salmon's Polygraphice (1673) provides a recipe for varnish used in etching, consisting of three ounces of virgin wax, two ounces of mastic , and one ounce of asphaltum. By
6496-449: The SMA was expanded to 51 + 1 ⁄ 2 townships, or about 4,700 km or 1,800 sq mi. This expansion pushes the northern limit of the SMA to within 12 miles (19 km) of Wood Buffalo National Park , a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The Albian Sands mine (operated by Shell Canada ) opened in 2003. All three of these mines are associated with bitumen upgraders that convert
6608-421: The United States, and the country is poised to become a significant driver of global crude oil production growth in 2024. The exploitation of these resources has stirred debates regarding economic development, energy security, and environmental impacts, particularly emissions from the oilsands, prompting discussions around emissions regulations for the oil and gas sector. The Athabasca oil sands, along with
6720-748: The Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA), the Canadian Oil Sands Network for Research and Development (CONRAD) and the Athabasca Regional Issues Working Group (RIWG). The role of the MSC is to consult and make recommendations on management principles. The recommendations contained in the MSC's first 2007 Final Report were lauded by several ministers and government representatives, but none have yet been effectively passed into law. On October 17, 2012,
6832-451: The brain of a Parisian of that generation". But the substance was generally neglected in France until the revolution of 1830 . In the 1830s there was a surge of interest, and asphalt became widely used "for pavements, flat roofs, and the lining of cisterns, and in England, some use of it had been made of it for similar purposes". Its rise in Europe was "a sudden phenomenon", after natural deposits were found "in France at Osbann ( Bas-Rhin ),
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#17328699770626944-600: The deeper oil shales of the Green River Formation during burial and diagenesis . Bitumen is similar to the organic matter in carbonaceous meteorites . However, detailed studies have shown these materials to be distinct. The vast Alberta bitumen resources are considered to have started out as living material from marine plants and animals, mainly algae , that died millions of years ago when an ancient ocean covered Alberta. They were covered by mud, buried deeply over time, and gently cooked into oil by geothermal heat at
7056-530: The early 20th century with the rise of the automobile . Asphalt gradually became an ever more common method of paving. St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans was paved its whole length with asphalt by 1889. Athabasca oil sands As of 2023, Canada's oil sands industry, along with Western Canada and offshore petroleum facilities near Newfoundland and Labrador, continued to increase production and were projected to increase by an estimated 10% in 2024 representing
7168-794: The fifth millennium BC, with a crop storage basket discovered in Mehrgarh , of the Indus Valley civilization , lined with it. By the 3rd millennium BC refined rock asphalt was in use in the region, and was used to waterproof the Great Bath in Mohenjo-daro. In the ancient Near East , the Sumerians used natural bitumen deposits for mortar between bricks and stones, to cement parts of carvings, such as eyes, into place, for ship caulking , and for waterproofing. The Greek historian Herodotus said hot bitumen
7280-490: The fifth edition in 1685, he had included more asphaltum recipes from other sources. The first British patent for the use of asphalt was "Cassell's patent asphalte or bitumen" in 1834. Then on 25 November 1837, Richard Tappin Claridge patented the use of Seyssel asphalt (patent #7849), for use in asphalte pavement, having seen it employed in France and Belgium when visiting with Frederick Walter Simms , who worked with him on
7392-538: The form of the adjective ἄσφαλἤς, ἐς signifying "firm", "stable", "secure", and the corresponding verb ἄσφαλίξω, ίσω meaning "to make firm or stable", "to secure". The word "asphalt" is derived from the late Middle English , in turn from French asphalte , based on Late Latin asphalton , asphaltum , which is the latinisation of the Greek ἄσφαλτος ( ásphaltos , ásphalton ), a word meaning "asphalt/bitumen/ pitch ", which perhaps derives from ἀ- , "not, without", i.e.
7504-406: The formerly Canadian government owned oil company, Petro-Canada , which turned Suncor into the largest petroleum company in Canada and one of the biggest Canadian companies. Suncor Energy is now a Canadian company completely unaffiliated with its former American parent company. Sun Oil Company became known as Sunoco , but later left the oil production and refining business, and has since become
7616-735: The four or five largest oil-producing countries in the world by 2020. In early December 2007, London-based BP and Calgary-based Husky Energy announced a 50–50 joint venture to produce and refine bitumen from the Athabasca oil sands. BP would contribute its Toledo, Ohio refinery to the joint venture, while Husky would contribute its Sunrise oil sands project. Sunrise was planned to start producing 60,000 barrels per day (9,500 m /d) of bitumen in 2012 and may reach 200,000 bbl/d (32,000 m /d) by 2015–2020. BP would modify its Toledo refinery to process 170,000 bbl/d (27,000 m /d) of bitumen directly to refined products. The joint venture would solve problems for both companies, since Husky
7728-455: The heart of the deposit, and traces of the heavy oil are readily observed on the river banks. Historically , the bitumen was used by the indigenous Cree and Dene Aboriginal peoples to waterproof their canoes. The oil deposits are located within the boundaries of Treaty 8 , and several First Nations of the area are involved with the sands. The Athabasca oil sands first came to the attention of European fur traders in 1719 when Wa-pa-su,
7840-523: The horse-drawn era, US streets were mostly unpaved and covered with dirt or gravel. Especially where mud or trenching often made streets difficult to pass, pavements were sometimes made of diverse materials including wooden planks, cobble stones or other stone blocks, or bricks. Unpaved roads produced uneven wear and hazards for pedestrians. In the late 19th century with the rise of the popular bicycle , bicycle clubs were important in pushing for more general pavement of streets. Advocacy for pavement increased in
7952-420: The industry and consistently making massive investments in research and development. Some people have claimed that Alberta features one of the lowest royalty rates in the world. Since Alberta, unlike US states, owns the vast majority of oil under its surface it can exercise more control over it, whereas US states are limited to severance taxes. This industry-centric royalty system has been criticised for "promoting
8064-510: The introduction of asphalt to Britain. Dr T. Lamb Phipson writes that his father, Samuel Ryland Phipson, a friend of Claridge, was also "instrumental in introducing the asphalte pavement (in 1836)". Claridge obtained a patent in Scotland on 27 March 1838, and obtained a patent in Ireland on 23 April 1838. In 1851, extensions for the 1837 patent and for both 1838 patents were sought by the trustees of
8176-473: The lands and resources within its borders. The province acts as the landowner and the federal government oversees jurisdiction over trade, commerce and taxation. There is a clear overlap, as resource management influences trade, and trade management influences resources. As of the 1990s, both the federal and provincial government have been aligned, focusing on regulation, technology and the development of new export markets. The majority of "ground-level" governance
8288-708: The largest private sector oil sands producer in the world. ConocoPhillips currently holds the largest position in the Canadian oil sands with over 1 million acres (4,000 km ) under lease. Other major oil sands producers planning to increase their production include Royal Dutch Shell (to 770,000 bbl/d (122,000 m /d)); Syncrude Canada (to 550,000 bbl/d (87,000 m /d)); Suncor Energy (to 500,000 bbl/d (79,000 m /d)) and Canadian Natural Resources (to 500,000 bbl/d (79,000 m /d)). If all these plans come to fruition, these five companies will be producing over 3.3 Mbbl/d (520,000 m /d) of oil from oil sands by 2028. The governance of
8400-458: The largest wildfire evacuation in Alberta's history and the costliest disaster in Canadian history . The wildfire halted oil sands production at facilities north of Fort McMurray. Shell Canada shut down output at its Albian Sands mining operation. Suncor Energy and Syncrude Canada also scaled back operations and evacuated employees and their families. Approximately one million barrels of oil
8512-499: The material is commonly referred to as asphalt . Whether found in natural deposits or refined from petroleum, the substance is classed as a pitch . Prior to the 20th century, the term asphaltum was in general use. The word derives from the Ancient Greek word ἄσφαλτος ( ásphaltos ), which referred to natural bitumen or pitch. The largest natural deposit of bitumen in the world is the Pitch Lake of southwest Trinidad , which
8624-419: The most efficient method of extracting it. The overburden consists of water-laden muskeg (peat bog) over top of clay and barren sand. The oil sands themselves are typically 40 to 60 metres (130 to 200 ft) deep, sitting on top of flat limestone rock. Originally, the sands were mined with draglines and bucket-wheel excavators and moved to the processing plants by conveyor belts . These early mines had
8736-705: The most extensive petroleum field in America, if not the world." Count Alfred von Hammerstein (1870–1941), who arrived in the region in 1897, promoted the Athabasca oil sands for over forty years, taking photos with descriptive titles such as "Tar Sands and Flowing Asphaltum in the Athabasca District," that are now in the National Library and National Archives Canada. Photos of the Athabasca oil sands were also featured in Canadian writer and adventurer, Agnes Deans Cameron 's, best-selling book The New North which recounted her 10,000 mi (16,000 km) roundtrip to
8848-468: The nearby Peace River and Cold Lake deposits oil sand deposits lie under 141,000 square kilometres (54,000 sq mi) of boreal forest and muskeg (peat bogs ) according to Government of Alberta's Ministry of Energy, Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). The Athabasca oil sands are named after the Athabasca River which cuts through
8960-640: The oil deposits to be about 110 million years old. Two smaller but still very large formations occur in the Peace River oil sands and the Cold Lake oil sands , to the west and southeast of the Athabasca oil sands, respectively. Of the Alberta deposits, only parts of the Athabasca oil sands are shallow enough to be suitable for surface mining. The other 80% has to be produced by oil wells using enhanced oil recovery techniques like steam-assisted gravity drainage . Much smaller heavy oil or bitumen deposits also occur in
9072-656: The oil sands is held almost entirely by the Ministry of Energy (Alberta) and its various departments. Critics noted a clear and systemic lack of public involvement at all key stages of the governance process. In answer to this, the province initiated the Oil Sands Consultations Multistakeholder Committee (MSC) in 2006. The MSC represents four organisations: the Cumulative Environmental Management Association (CEMA),
9184-539: The oil sands was initiated in 1875 by John Macoun , and in 1883, G. C. Hoffman of the Geological Survey of Canada tried separating the bitumen from oil sand with the use of water and reported that it separated readily. In 1888, Robert Bell , the director of the Geological Survey of Canada, reported to a Senate Committee that "The evidence ... points to the existence in the Athabasca and Mackenzie valleys of
9296-424: The original oil and materials accumulating from its circulation in the engine (typically iron and copper). Some research has indicated a correlation between this adulteration of bitumen and poorer-performing pavement. The majority of bitumen used commercially is obtained from petroleum. Nonetheless, large amounts of bitumen occur in concentrated form in nature. Naturally occurring deposits of bitumen are formed from
9408-551: The other hand, was formed naturally when vast quantities of organic animal materials were deposited by water and buried hundreds of metres deep at the diagenetic point, where the disorganized fatty hydrocarbon molecules joined in long chains in the absence of oxygen. Bitumen occurs as a solid or highly viscous liquid. It may even be mixed in with coal deposits. Bitumen, and coal using the Bergius process , can be refined into petrols such as gasoline, and bitumen may be distilled into tar, not
9520-411: The other way around. The components of bitumen include four main classes of compounds: Bitumen typically contains, elementally 80% by weight of carbon; 10% hydrogen; up to 6% sulfur; and molecularly, between 5 and 25% by weight of asphaltenes dispersed in 90% to 65% maltenes. Most natural bitumens also contain organosulfur compounds , Nickel and vanadium are found at <10 parts per million, as
9632-478: The price of oil down from more than 100 dollars a barrel in 2013 to less than 40 dollars three years later. Lingering low oil prices prompted companies to cancel new investments in the oil sands. From May to July 2016, a wildfire spread from Fort McMurray across northern Alberta , burning approximately 590,000 hectares (1,500,000 acres) of forested areas and destroying approximately 2,400 homes and buildings. 88,000 people were forced from their homes in what became
9744-505: The remains of ancient, microscopic algae ( diatoms ) and other once-living things. These natural deposits of bitumen have been formed during the Carboniferous period, when giant swamp forests dominated many parts of the Earth. They were deposited in the mud on the bottom of the ocean or lake where the organisms lived. Under the heat (above 50 °C) and pressure of burial deep in the earth,
9856-600: The remains were transformed into materials such as bitumen, kerogen , or petroleum. Natural deposits of bitumen include lakes such as the Pitch Lake in Trinidad and Tobago and Lake Bermudez in Venezuela . Natural seeps occur in the La Brea Tar Pits and the McKittrick Tar Pits in California , as well as in the Dead Sea . Bitumen also occurs in unconsolidated sandstones known as "oil sands" in Alberta , Canada, and
9968-459: The similar "tar sands" in Utah , US. The Canadian province of Alberta has most of the world's reserves, in three huge deposits covering 142,000 square kilometres (55,000 sq mi), an area larger than England or New York state . These bituminous sands contain 166 billion barrels (26.4 × 10 ^ m ) of commercially established oil reserves, giving Canada the third largest oil reserves in
10080-428: The space at the bottom of the steps leading from Waterloo Place to St. James Park". "The formation in 1838 of Claridge's Patent Asphalte Company (with a distinguished list of aristocratic patrons, and Marc and Isambard Brunel as, respectively, a trustee and consulting engineer), gave an enormous impetus to the development of a British asphalt industry". "By the end of 1838, at least two other companies, Robinson's and
10192-726: The stone artefacts, suggesting that bitumen was an important and frequently-used component of tool making for people in that region at that time. Geochemical analyses of the asphaltic residues places its source to localized natural bitumen outcroppings in the Bichri Massif, about 40 km northeast of the Umm el Tlel archeological site. A re-examination of artifacts uncovered in 1908 at Le Moustier rock shelters in France has identified Mousterian stone tools that were attached to grips made of ochre and bitumen. The grips were formulated with 55% ground goethite ochre and 45% cooked liquid bitumen to create
10304-486: The surface above underlying petroleum deposits. All three groups used the substance as an adhesive. It is found on many different artifacts of tools and ceremonial items. For example, it was used on rattles to adhere gourds or turtle shells to rattle handles. It was also used in decorations. Small round shell beads were often set in asphaltum to provide decorations. It was used as a sealant on baskets to make them watertight for carrying water, possibly poisoning those who drank
10416-449: The term is less commonly used today. In American English , "asphalt" is equivalent to the British "bitumen". However, "asphalt" is also commonly used as a shortened form of " asphalt concrete " (therefore equivalent to the British "asphalt" or "tarmac"). In Canadian English , the word "bitumen" is used to refer to the vast Canadian deposits of extremely heavy crude oil , while "asphalt"
10528-417: The terms asphalt and bitumen are often used interchangeably and refer both to natural and manufactured forms of the substance, although there is regional variation as to which term is most common. Worldwide, geologists tend to favor the term bitumen for the naturally occurring material. For the manufactured material, which is a refined residue from the distillation process of selected crude oils, bitumen
10640-408: The top of separation vessels, and is further treated to remove residual water and fine solids. About two short tons (1.8 t) of oil sands are required to produce one barrel ( 1 ⁄ 8 short ton; 110 kg) of oil. Originally, roughly 75% of the bitumen was recovered from the sand. However, recent enhancements to this method include Tailings Oil Recovery (TOR) units which recover oil from
10752-627: The unusable bitumen into synthetic crude oil for shipment to refineries in Canada and the United States . For Albian, the upgrader is at Scotford, 439 km south. The bitumen, diluted with a solvent, is transferred there in a 610 mm (24 in) corridor pipeline. The Energy Resource Conservation Board has approved over 100 mining and in-situ projects despite the negative environmental impacts. As of 2012, there were 9 active open mining projects, more than 50 approved in-situ projects as well as 190 primary recovery projects extracting bitumen that
10864-590: The water. Asphalt was used also to seal the planks on ocean-going canoes. Asphalt was first used to pave streets in the 1870s. At first naturally occurring "bituminous rock" was used, such as at Ritchie Mines in Macfarlan in Ritchie County, West Virginia from 1852 to 1873. In 1876, asphalt-based paving was used to pave Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC, in time for the celebration of the national centennial. In
10976-539: The world. Although historically it was used without refining to pave roads, nearly all of the output is now used as raw material for oil refineries in Canada and the United States. The world's largest deposit of natural bitumen, known as the Athabasca oil sands , is located in the McMurray Formation of Northern Alberta. This formation is from the early Cretaceous , and is composed of numerous lenses of oil-bearing sand with up to 20% oil. Isotopic studies show
11088-516: Was a 1958 proposal to exploit the Athabasca oil sands using the underground detonation of nuclear explosives ; hypothetically, the heat and pressure created by an underground detonation would boil the bitumen deposits, reducing their viscosity to the point that standard oilfield techniques could be used. The plan was discussed in the October 1976 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists . A patent
11200-864: Was a valuable strategic resource. It was the object of the first known battle for a hydrocarbon deposit – between the Seleucids and the Nabateans in 312 BC. In the ancient Far East, natural bitumen was slowly boiled to get rid of the higher fractions , leaving a thermoplastic material of higher molecular weight that, when layered on objects, became hard upon cooling. This was used to cover objects that needed waterproofing, such as scabbards and other items. Statuettes of household deities were also cast with this type of material in Japan, and probably also in China. In North America , archaeological recovery has indicated that bitumen
11312-687: Was granted for the intended process in 1964. The nuclear heating option is considered a forerunner to some of the conventional heating methods used to extract tar sands oil. In April 1959, the Federal Mines Department approved Project Oilsand. However, it was subsequently cancelled in 1962. The oil sands, which are typically 40 to 60 metres (130 to 200 ft) thick and sit on top of relatively flat limestone , are relatively easy to access. They lie under 1 to 3 m (3 ft 3 in to 9 ft 10 in) of waterlogged muskeg , 0 to 75 metres (0 to 246 ft) of clay and barren sand. As
11424-543: Was more widely used. However, the First World War ruined the Clarmac Company, which entered into liquidation in 1915. The failure of Clarmac Roads Ltd had a flow-on effect to Claridge's Company, which was itself compulsorily wound up, ceasing operations in 1917, having invested a substantial amount of funds into the new venture, both at the outset and in a subsequent attempt to save the Clarmac Company. Bitumen
11536-703: Was phased in with a mandate to regulate oil, gas and coal development in Alberta including the Athabasca oil sands. The AER brings together "the regulatory functions from the Energy Resources Conservation Board and the Alberta Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development into a one-stop shop" The Alberta Energy Regulator is now "responsible for all projects from application to reclamation." They will respond to project proponents, landowners and industry regarding energy regulations in Alberta. The Responsible Energy Development Act gave
11648-577: Was produced by surface mining and 47% by in-situ techniques. In 2012, oil production from oil sands was 1.8 million barrels per day (290,000 m /d). The massive development of tight oil extraction in the Bakken and Permian Basin in the United States transformed the oil industry rapidly, reducing importation of foreign oil dramatically. As with the oil sands, production costs of shale oil are higher than those of conventional oil. A combination of factors, among them oversupply and geopolitical rivalries, drove
11760-552: Was shaped into tool handles or used as an adhesive for attaching stone tools to hafts . The earliest evidence of bitumen use was discovered when archeologists identified bitumen material on Levallois flint artefacts that date to about 71,000 years BP at the Umm el Tlel open-air site, located on the northern slope of the Qdeir Plateau in el Kowm Basin in Central Syria. Microscopic analyses found bituminous residue on two-thirds of
11872-425: Was short of refining capacity, and BP had no presence in the oil sands. It was a change of strategy for BP, since the company historically has downplayed the importance of oil sands. In mid December 2007, ConocoPhillips announced its intention to increase its oil sands production from 60,000 barrels per day (9,500 m /d) to 1 million barrels per day (160,000 m /d) over the next 20 years, which would make it
11984-487: Was sometimes used to adhere stone projectile points to wooden shafts. In Canada, aboriginal people used bitumen seeping out of the banks of the Athabasca and other rivers to waterproof birch bark canoes , and also heated it in smudge pots to ward off mosquitoes in the summer. Bitumen was also used to waterproof plank canoes used by indigenous peoples in pre-colonial southern California. In 1553, Pierre Belon described in his work Observations that pissasphalto ,
12096-608: Was subsequently shortened to "bitumen", thence passing via French into English. From the same root is derived the Anglo Saxon word "cwidu" (Mastix), the German word "Kitt" (cement or mastic) and the old Norse word "kvada". The word "ašphalt" is claimed to have been derived from the Accadian term "asphaltu" or "sphallo", meaning "to split". It was later adopted by the Homeric Greeks in
12208-401: Was the type most used in the 1840s and 50s". In 1914, Claridge's Company entered into a joint venture to produce tar-bound macadam , with materials manufactured through a subsidiary company called Clarmac Roads Ltd. Two products resulted, namely Clarmac , and Clarphalte , with the former being manufactured by Clarmac Roads and the latter by Claridge's Patent Asphalte Co., although Clarmac
12320-543: Was thought in 19th century Britain to contain chemicals with medicinal properties. Extracts from bitumen were used to treat catarrh and some forms of asthma and as a remedy against worms, especially the tapeworm . The first use of bitumen in the New World was by aboriginal peoples. On the west coast, as early as the 13th century, the Tongva , Luiseño and Chumash peoples collected the naturally occurring bitumen that seeped to
12432-407: Was used as mortar in the walls of Babylon . The 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) long Euphrates Tunnel beneath the river Euphrates at Babylon in the time of Queen Semiramis ( c. 800 BC ) was reportedly constructed of burnt bricks covered with bitumen as a waterproofing agent. Bitumen was used by ancient Egyptians to embalm mummies. The Persian word for asphalt is moom , which
12544-524: Was very efficient at recovering large amounts of bitumen at a reasonable cost. In recent years, companies such as Syncrude and Suncor have switched to much cheaper shovel-and-truck operations using the biggest power shovels (at least 100 short tons; 91 t) and dump trucks (400 short tons; 360 t) in the world. This has held production costs to around US$ 27 per barrel of synthetic crude oil despite rising energy and labour costs. After excavation, hot water and caustic soda ( sodium hydroxide )
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