Oil Sands Truth: Shut Down the Tar Sands

Alberta (& Saskatchewan) Tar Sands

The process of removing the tar from the sand involves incredible amounts of energy from clean-burning natural gas (with nuclear proposed along side), tremendous capital costs during build up, incredibly high petroleum prices to protect investments, and the largest single industrial contribution to climate change in North America. Production also involves the waste of fresh water from nearby lakes, rivers and aquifers that have already created toxic tailing ponds visible from outer space. None of the land strip mined has yet to be certified as reclaimed. It takes 4 tonnes of soil to produce one barrel of oil. The tar sands are producing over 1.2 million barrels of oil a day on average. The oil companies, Canada and the United States governments are proposing to escalate production to 5 million barrels, almost all destined for American markets-- and lower environmental standards while doing so. They also would need to violate the national and human rights of many indigenous nations who are rightly concerned about many dire social, environmental and economic repercussions on their communities.

To get the needed energy supplies, diluent for the bitumen and diverted freshwater to produce and then to transport the flowing heavy bitumen for refining would require massive new infrastructure and pipeline building from three different time zones in the Arctic, across British Columbia and through Alberta in a criss-cross pattern, into pipelines to such destinations as California, China, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Ontario, Illinois, Wisconsin and Texas. This entire project is now estimated at over $170 billion dollars. And after the whole process described so far, only then will all this dirty petroleum get burned and expel greenhouse gasses into the air causing further climate change.

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Alberta Tar Sands is a category limited to the location and production of tar sand bitumen, an area the size of the state of Florida in northern Alberta province. The giant processing plants near Fort McMurray where the land itself is strip mined as well as the primarily "in situ" in-ground steam separation/production and extraction plants in the Peace and Cold Lake Regions, all in Alberta, are the "Ground Zero" of the single largest industrial gigaproject ever proposed in human history. The process of removing the tar from the sand involves incredible amounts of energy from clean-burning natural gas (with nuclear proposed along side), tremendous capital costs during build up, incredibly high petroleum prices to protect investments, and the largest single industrial contribution to climate change in North America. Production also involves the waste of fresh water from nearby lakes, rivers and aquifers that have already created toxic tailing ponds visible from outer space. None of the land strip mined has yet to be certified as reclaimed. It takes 4 tonnes of soil to produce one barrel of oil. The tar sands are producing over 1.2 million barrels of oil a day on average. The oil companies, Canada and the United States governments are proposing to escalate production to 5 million barrels, almost all destined for American markets-- and lower environmental standards while doing so. They also would need to violate the national and human rights of many indigenous nations who are rightly concerned about many dire social, environmental and economic repercussions on their communities. To get the needed energy supplies, diluent for the bitumen and diverted freshwater to produce and then to transport the flowing heavy bitumen for refining would require massive new infrastructure and pipeline building from three different time zones in the Arctic, across British Columbia and through Alberta in a criss-cross pattern, into pipelines to such destinations as California, China, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Ontario, Illinois, Wisconsin and Texas. This entire project is now estimated at over $170 billion dollars. And after the whole process described so far, only then will all this dirty petroleum get burned and expel greenhouse gasses into the air causing further climate change.

Opec’s gift to tar sands producers: high oil prices

Opec’s gift to oil sands producers: high oil prices
Financial Post
Yadullah Hussain Jul 6, 2012

Canadian oil sands producers battling high development costs are getting help from an unlikely quarter: Saudi Arabia and its OPEC allies.

“OPEC’s pursuit of higher prices has underpinned the growth of non-OPEC producers,” says Julian Lee, senior energy analyst at U.K.-based Centre for Global Energy Studies. “Non-OPEC developers should be extremely grateful for OPEC for keeping the price of oil high and making all the exotic and expensive sources of oil economically viable.”

Canada favors tech cooperation with J'lem

Canada favors tech cooperation with J'lem
By SHARON UDASIN
Jerusalem Post
06/27/2012

‘Israel is a hotbed of innovation, technological activity,’ Canadian resources minister says before meeting with Uzi Landau.

With Canada’s widespread experience in natural resources regulation and development and Israel’s eminence as an innovation hub, the two countries would make ideal partners for collaborative advancement in both traditional and renewable energy fields, a Canadian minister told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.

More BS than Bitumen Flowing From Alberta After Third Recent Spill

More BS than Bitumen Flowing From Alberta After Third Recent Spill
by Damien Gillis l The Canadian.ca

A story in yesterday's Edmonton Journal on the latest pipeline spill in Alberta, this one near Elk Point, was more full of crap than the province's rivers and farms are full of oil these days.

Despite Spills, Enbridge Pushes For More Tar Sands Pipelines

Despite Spills, Enbridge Pushes For More Oil Sands Pipelines
6/26/2012

Alberta's three oil sand deposits are known as the Athabasca Oil Sands, the Cold Lake Oil Sands, and the Peace River Oil Sands. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

India’s ONGC may bid for $5B Conoco tar sands assets

India’s ONGC may bid for $5B Conoco oil sands assets

By Charlie Zhu, Reuters Jun 5, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR — Oil and Natural Gas Corp , India’s biggest state-owned energy explorer, is considering bidding for part of ConocoPhillips Canadian oil sands holdings worth around $5-billion, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Tuesday.

Fort McMurray: Economic centre of Canada?

Claudia Cattaneo Jun 5, 2012
Financial Post

Fort McMurray, economic centre of Canada? Torontonians and the rest of the country had better get used to the idea. The Canadian economy will increasingly spin around the northern Alberta oil town if an industry forecast that shows Canada’s daily volumes will more than double to 6.2 million barrels a day by 2030, largely from the oil sands, proves right.

Canada to be among top three oil producers by 2030

By Yadullah Hussain, Financial Post

June 5, 2012

Canada could emerge as the top three or four oil producer in the world by 2030 thanks to rising oil sands supply, according to an industry forecast which focuses more on the possibilities that lay before the Canadian oil industry rather than its substantial challenges.

[Tar sands] Oil producers urged to solve pipeline constraints

Alternative title: "This is why we fight tar sands pipelines."

Oil producers urged to solve pipeline constraints

SHAWN McCARTHY

Ottawa — The Globe and Mail

Jun. 05 2012

Canadian oil producers are facing a pipeline crunch that could limit the industry’s vast development plans as early as 2015, but face a long and increasingly bitter battle to expand their capacity to ship crude to market.

An Oil Industry Witch Hunt in Canada Threatens Us All

An Oil Industry Witch Hunt in Canada Threatens Us All
Posted: 06/01/2012
Huff Post

Big Oil and the Canadian government are showing their true colors these days, and what an ugly spectacle it is. Not content to squeeze tar sands oil profits from Canada's boreal forest, the industry and the Harper regime are working overtime to squelch free speech in this once-vibrant democracy.

Cenovus plans new technology at tar sands project

Cenovus plans new technology at oil sands project
Wed May 30, 2012
Reuters

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Cenovus Energy Inc (CVE.TO: Quote) said on Wednesday it won regulatory approval for its third major steam-driven oil sands project, a joint-venture development in which it will test new production technology aimed at getting more tar-like oil out of the ground.