Unconventional oil reserves

What are oil sands
Oil sands, tar sands or, more technically, bituminous sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit.

Oil sands are either loose sands or partially consolidated sandstone containing a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, and water, saturated with a dense and extremely viscous form of petroleum technically referred to as bitumen (or colloquially as tar due to its superficially similar appearance). Natural bitumen deposits are reported in many countries, but in particular are found in extremely large quantities in Canada. Other large reserves are located in Kazakhstan and Russia. The estimated worldwide deposits of oil are more than 2 trillion barrels (320 billion cubic metres); the estimates include deposits that have not been discovered. Proven reserves of bitumen contain approximately 100 billion barrels, and total natural bitumen reserves are estimated at 249.67 Gbbl (39.694×109 m3) worldwide, of which 176.8 Gbbl (28.11×109 m3), or 70.8%, are in Alberta, Canada.

Oil sands reserves have only recently been considered to be part of the world's oil reserves, as higher oil prices and new technology enable profitable extraction and processing. Oil produced from bitumen sands is often referred to as unconventional oil or crude bitumen, to distinguish it from liquid hydrocarbons produced from traditional oil wells.

The crude bitumen contained in the Canadian oil sands is described by the National Energy Board of Canada as "a highly viscous mixture of hydrocarbons heavier than pentanes which, in its natural state, is not usually recoverable at a commercial rate through a well because it is too thick to flow." Crude bitumen is a thick, sticky form of crude oil, so heavy and viscous (thick) that it will not flow unless heated or diluted with lighter hydrocarbons such as light crude oil or natural-gas condensate. At room temperature, it is much like cold molasses. The World Energy Council (WEC) defines natural bitumen as "oil having a viscosity greater than 10,000 centipoise under reservoir conditions and an API gravity of less than 10° API". The Orinoco Belt in Venezuela is sometimes described as oil sands, but these deposits are non-bituminous, falling instead into the category of heavy or extra-heavy oil due to their lower viscosity. Natural bitumen and extra-heavy oil differ in the degree by which they have been degraded from the original conventional oils by bacteria. According to the WEC, extra-heavy oil has "a gravity of less than 10° API and a reservoir viscosity of no more than 10,000 centipoise".

According to the study ordered by the Government of Alberta and conducted by Jacobs Engineering Group, emissions from oil-sand crude are 12% higher than from conventional oil.

What are oil shales


Oil shale, also known as kerogen shale, is an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons called shale oil (not to be confused with tight oil—crude oil occurring naturally in shales) can be produced. Shale oil is a substitute for conventional crude oil; however, extracting shale oil from oil shale is more costly than the production of conventional crude oil both financially and in terms of its environmental impact. Deposits of oil shale occur around the world, including major deposits in the United States. Estimates of global deposits range from 4.8 to 5 trillion barrels (760×109 to 790×109 m3) of oil in place.

Heating oil shale to a sufficiently high temperature causes the chemical process of pyrolysis to yield a vapor. Upon cooling the vapor, the liquid shale oil—an unconventional oil—is separated from combustible oil-shale gas (the term shale gas can also refer to gas occurring naturally in shales). Oil shale can also be burned directly in furnaces as a low-grade fuel for power generation and district heating or used as a raw material in chemical and construction-materials processing.

Oil shale gains attention as a potential abundant source of oil whenever the price of crude oil rises. At the same time, oil-shale mining and processing raise a number of environmental concerns, such as land use, waste disposal, water use, waste-water management, greenhouse-gas emissions and air pollution. Estonia and China have well-established oil shale industries, and Brazil, Germany, and Russia also utilize oil shale.

General composition of oil shales constitutes inorganic matrix, bitumens, and kerogen. Oil shales differ from oil-bearing shales, shale deposits that contain petroleum (tight oil) that is sometimes produced from drilled wells. Examples of oil-bearing shales are the Bakken Formation, Pierre Shale, Niobrara Formation, and Eagle Ford Formation.

Oil shale, an organic-rich sedimentary rock, belongs to the group of sapropel fuels.[10] It does not have a definite geological definition nor a specific chemical formula, and its seams do not always have discrete boundaries. Oil shales vary considerably in their mineral content, chemical composition, age, type of kerogen, and depositional history and not all oil shales would necessarily be classified as shales in the strict sense. According to the petrologist Adrian C. Hutton of the University of Wollongong, oil shales are not "geological nor geochemically distinctive rock but rather 'economic' term." Their common feature is low solubility in low-boiling organic solvents and generation of liquid organic products on thermal decomposition.

Oil shale differs from bitumen-impregnated rocks (oil sands and petroleum reservoir rocks), humic coals and carbonaceous shale. While oil sands do originate from the biodegradation of oil, heat and pressure have not (yet) transformed the kerogen in oil shale into petroleum, that means that its maturation does not exceed early mesocatagenetic.

General composition of oil shales constitutes inorganic matrix, bitumens, and kerogen. While the bitumen portion of oil shales is soluble in carbon disulfide, kerogen portion is insoluble in carbon disulfide and can contain iron, vanadium, nickel, molybdenum, and uranium. Oil shale contains a lower percentage of organic matter than coal. In commercial grades of oil shale the ratio of organic matter to mineral matter lies approximately between 0.75:5 and 1.5:5. At the same time, the organic matter in oil shale has an atomic ratio of hydrogen to carbon (H/C) approximately 1.2 to 1.8 times lower than for crude oil and about 1.5 to 3 times higher than for coals. The organic components of oil shale derive from a variety of organisms, such as the remains of algae, spores, pollen, plant cuticles and corky fragments of herbaceous and woody plants, and cellular debris from other aquatic and land plants. Some deposits contain significant fossils; Germany's Messel Pit has the status of a Unesco World Heritage Site. The mineral matter in oil shale includes various fine-grained silicates and carbonates.[4][10] Inorganic matrix can contain quartz, feldspars, clays (mainly illite and chlorite), carbonates (calcite and dolomites), pyrite and some other minerals.

Geologists can classify oil shales on the basis of their composition as carbonate-rich shales, siliceous shales, or cannel shales.

Another classification, known as the van Krevelen diagram, assigns kerogen types, depending on the hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen content of oil shales' original organic matter. The most commonly used classification of oil shales, developed between 1987 and 1991 by Adrian C. Hutton, adapts petrographic terms from coal terminology. This classification designates oil shales as terrestrial, lacustrine (lake-bottom-deposited), or marine (ocean bottom-deposited), based on the environment of the initial biomass deposit. Known oil shales are predominantly aquatic (marine, lacustrine) origin. Hutton's classification scheme has proven useful in estimating the yield and composition of the extracted oil.

Historic examples
In Canada, the First Nation peoples had used bitumen from seeps along the Athabasca and Clearwater Rivers to waterproof their birch bark canoes from early prehistoric times. The Canadian oil sands first became known to Europeans in 1719 when a Cree native named Wa-Pa-Su brought a sample to Hudsons Bay Company fur trader Henry Kelsey, who commented on it in his journals. Fur trader Peter Pond paddled down the Clearwater River to Athabasca in 1778, saw the deposits and wrote of "springs of bitumen that flow along the ground." In 1787, fur trader and explorer Alexander MacKenzie on his way to the Arctic Ocean saw the Athabasca oil sands, and commented, "At about 24 miles from the fork (of the Athabasca and Clearwater Rivers) are some bituminous fountains into which a pole of 20 feet long may be inserted without the least resistance."

The Athabasca River cuts through the heart of the deposit, and traces of the heavy oil are readily observed as black stains on the river banks. Since portions of the Athabasca sands are shallow enough to be surface-mineable, they were the earliest ones to see development. Historically, the bitumen was used by the indigenous Cree and Dene Aboriginal peoples to waterproof their canoes. The Athabasca oil sands first came to the attention of European fur traders in 1719 when Wa-pa-su, a Cree trader, brought a sample of bituminous sands to the Hudson's Bay Company post at York Factory on Hudson Bay.

WW1 and WW2 usage


Romania had been a major power in the oil industry since the 1800s. It was one of the largest producers in Europe and Ploiesti was a major part of that production. (see Bombing of Romania in World War II). The Ploiești oil refineries provided about 30% of all Axis oil production.

Operation Tidal Wave was an air attack by bombers of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) based in Libya and Southern Italy on nine oil refineries around Ploiești, Romania on 1 August 1943, during World War II. It was a strategic bombing mission and part of the "oil campaign" to deny petroleum-based fuel to the Axis. The mission resulted in "no curtailment of overall product output".

Romania discovered some oil sands and shale near the oil producing town of Ploiești in the run up to WW2 and plans were made to use them if the conventional oil ran out, but it did not.

Cold War usage
The then high oil prices, hostile Arabs and falling supplies in the 1970s lead to a plan to exploit many unusual, remote and/or marginal fields in order to secure oil new supplies and as a possible way of earning more revenue as rising prices made them economically viable.

It would also provide a theoretical alternative if the Middle East went crazy and the Gulf States were destroyed.

Modern usage
Venezuela's Orinoco Belt was discovered in 2003 and has been experimentally tapped for oil and gas since 2003. Oil sand/shale mining was planned for 2013, but is now planned for some time in the the 2020s.

Athabasca oil sands and shales



 * 1) Country- Canada
 * 2) Region- Northern Alberta
 * 3) Offshore/onshore- Onshore, mining
 * 4) Coordinates- 57.02°N 111.65°WCoordinates: 57.02°N 111.65°W
 * 5) Site operators- Syncrude, Suncor, CNRL, Shell, Total, Imperial Oil, Petro Canada, Devon, Husky, Statoil and Nexen
 * 6) Corporate partners- Chevron, Marathon, ConocoPhillips, BP and Oxy
 * 7) Discovery- 1848
 * 8) Start of production- 1967
 * 9) Current production of oil- 1,300,000 barrels per day (~6.5×107 t/a)
 * 10) Estimated oil in place- 133,000 million barrels (~1.81×1010 t)
 * 11) Producing formations- McMurray, Clearwater and Grand Rapids

The Athabasca oil sands are large deposits of bitumen or extremely heavy crude oil, located in northeastern Alberta, Canada – roughly centred on the boomtown of Fort McMurray. These oil sands, hosted primarily in the McMurray Formation, consist of a mixture of crude bitumen (a semi-solid rock-like form of crude oil), silica sand, clay minerals, and water. The Athabasca deposit is the largest known reservoir of crude bitumen in the world and the largest of three major oil sands deposits in Alberta, along with the nearby Peace River and Cold Lake deposits (the latter stretching into Saskatchewan).

Together, these oil sand deposits lie under 141,000 square kilometres (54,000 sq mi) of boreal forest and muskeg (peat bogs) and contain about 1.7 trillion barrels (270×109 m3) of bitumen in-place, comparable in magnitude to the world's total proven reserves of conventional petroleum. The International Energy Agency (IEA) lists the economically recoverable reserves, at 2006 prices and modern unconventional oil production technology, to be 178 billion barrels (28.3×109 m3), or about 10% of these deposits. These contribute to Canada's total proven reserves being the third largest in the world, after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela's Orinoco Belt.

In Canada, the First Nation peoples had used bitumen from seeps along the Athabasca and Clearwater Rivers to waterproof their birch bark canoes from early prehistoric times. The Canadian oil sands first became known to Europeans in 1719 when a Cree native named Wa-Pa-Su brought a sample to Hudsons Bay Company fur trader Henry Kelsey, who commented on it in his journals. Fur trader Peter Pond paddled down the Clearwater River to Athabasca in 1778, saw the deposits and wrote of "springs of bitumen that flow along the ground." In 1787, fur trader and explorer Alexander MacKenzie on his way to the Arctic Ocean saw the Athabasca oil sands, and commented, "At about 24 miles from the fork (of the Athabasca and Clearwater Rivers) are some bituminous fountains into which a pole of 20 feet long may be inserted without the least resistance."

The Athabasca River cuts through the heart of the deposit, and traces of the heavy oil are readily observed as black stains on the river banks. Since portions of the Athabasca sands are shallow enough to be surface-mineable, they were the earliest ones to see development. Historically, the bitumen was used by the indigenous Cree and Dene Aboriginal peoples to waterproof their canoes. The Athabasca oil sands first came to the attention of European fur traders in 1719 when Wa-pa-su, a Cree trader, brought a sample of bituminous sands to the Hudson's Bay Company post at York Factory on Hudson Bay.

Minor exploration and mining activity started up for a while in 1900. Operations were mooted in 1924-26, 1940, 1958 and 1962. The 1962 plans were take up in 1965 and enacted in 1967. It's development was inhibited by the declining world oil prices in the late 1960s. The second mine, operated by the Syncrude consortium, did not begin operating until 1978, after the 1973 oil crisis had caused prices to rise, thus sparking investors' interest.

By 2009, the two extraction methods used were in situ extraction, when the bitumen occurs deeper within the ground, (which will account for 80 percent of oil sands development) and surface or open-pit mining, when the bitumen is closer to the surface. Only 20 percent of bitumen can be extracted using open pit mining methods, which involves large scale excavation of the land with huge hydraulic power shovels and 400-ton heavy hauler trucks. Surface mining leaves toxic tailings ponds. In contrast, in situ uses more specialized techniques such as steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). "Eighty percent of the oil sands will be developed in situ which accounts for 97.5 percent of the total surface area of the oil sands region in Alberta." In 2006 the Athabasca deposit was the only large oil sands reservoir in the world which was suitable for large-scale surface mining, although most of this reservoir can only be produced using more recently developed in-situ technology.

Critics contend that government and industry measures taken to reduce environmental and health risks posed by large-scale mining operations are inadequate, causing unacceptable damage to the natural environment and human welfare. Objective discussion of the environmental impacts has often been clouded by polarised arguments from industry and from advocacy groups.

Melville Island oil shales
Melville Island (Northwest Territories and Nunavut) is a uninhabited island of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago with an area of 42,149 km2 (16,274 sq mi). It is the 33rd largest island in the world and Canada's eighth largest island. Melville Island is shared by the Northwest Territories, which is responsible for the western half of the island, and Nunavut, which is responsible for the eastern half. The border runs along the 110th meridian west. The mountains on Melville Island, some of the largest in the western Canadian Arctic, reach heights of 1,000 m (3,300 ft). There are two subnational pene-exclaves that lie west of the 110th meridian and form part of the Northwest Territories. These can only be reached by land from Nunavut or boat from the Northwest Territories.

Melville has surfaced as a candidate for natural gas deposits. The island was believed to have deposits of coal and oil shale since the first half of the 20th century. The first Canadian Arctic island exploratory well was spudded in 1961 at Winter Harbour. It drilled Lower Paleozoic strata to a total depth of 3,823 m (12,543 ft). In the 1970s, the northern portion of the island on the east side of the Sabine Peninsula proved to contain a major gas field, known as Drake Point. The lease was owned by Panarctic Oils, a joint operation with the Canadian Government.

Utah oil sands


In the United States a large supply of oil sands are found in Eastern Utah. These deposits of bitumenor heavy crude oil have the ability to generate about 12 to 19 billion barrels from a number of prominent sites. the Oil Shale and Tar Sands Programmatic EIS Information Center had confirmed most of this by 2008.

Since the early 1900s the oil sand deposits have been extracted mainly for the use of road pavement. Later, in the 1970s, oil companies began to experiment with the deposits in the hope of using it for their benefit. These experiments ended in the late 1980s when the technologies being used were concluded inefficient and too expensive. Recently, oil companies have again become interested in Utah's oil sands. Now that conventional oil is becoming harder to find, oil sands have become an alternative fuel source.

Utah's oil sands are made up of several different deposits all consisting of different amounts of heavy or crude oil. These sites are mostly found on public lands. They are mainly close together and many are found within the Uintah Basin of Utah, which is a section of the Colorado Plateaus province. Some of these sites include Sunnyside, P.R. Spring, Asphalt Ridge, Hill Creek, Circle Ridge, Circle Cliffs, White Rocks, and the Tar Sand Triangle, the highest deposit.

The Tar Sand Triangle is located in Southeastern Utah and covers an area of 148,000 acres. It is located between the Dirty Devil and Colorado Rivers in Wayne and Garfield Counties. The Tar Sand Triangle is the largest deposit of oil sands in the United States known today. It contains about 6.3 billion barrels of heavy oil, but is thought to have originally held more. At one point the Tar Sand Triangle could have consisted of 16 billion barrels of heavy oil, almost as much as in Utah today.

In the United States a large supply of oil sands are found in Eastern Utah. These deposits of bitumen or heavy crude oil have the ability to generate about 12 to 19 billion barrels from a number of prominent sites.

Since the early 1900s the oil sand deposits have been extracted mainly for the use of road pavement. Later, in the 1970s, oil companies began to experiment with the deposits in the hope of using it for their benefit. These experiments ended in the late 1980s when the technologies being used were concluded inefficient and too expensive. Recently, oil companies have again become interested in Utah's oil sands. Now that conventional oil is becoming harder to find, oil sands have become an alternative fuel source.

The Utah Oil Sands Joint Venture is a joint venture between Nevtah Capital Management, Inc., and Black Sands Energy Corp. to develop oil sands resources at the Uintah Basin in Utah.

Oil-sands extraction in Utah started in the 1960s when two extraction plants were constructed. Western Industries opened a strip-mine and built a pilot plant along the east side of the Whiterocks River and Major Oil Company opened a strip-mine and built a pilot plant on the west side off the Whiterocks River. In 2005, Nevtah Capital Management and Cassandra Energy (now: Black Sands Energy) formed a joint venture to develop Utah's oil sands and opened a pilot plant at the Asphalt Ridge lease location. The pilot plant became in operation in November 2005.

The joint venture uses closed-loop solvent extraction process originally proven by X-TRAC Energy in Wyoming in 1998, with a full-scale production plant. Black Sands Energy has exclusive rights to a technology.

The above-ground extraction process dissolute crushed, 1" minus oil sands materials through contact with a benign non-toxic solvent in an enclosed extractor vessel at temperatures up to 300 °F (149 °C) at near-atmospheric pressures. As the material dissolves, it is passed to a wash chamber where any remaining oil is removed. The oil-free sand is then desolventised with heat, which converts the liquid solvent to a gas, leaving dry solids suitable for mine backfill. The solvent-oil mixture is pumped into a critical unit for the removal of asphalt and oil from the solvent through heating and cooling. The recovered solvent is compressed back to a liquid, cooled and re-circulated to the extractor vessel in an endless loop. The system consists of only few moving parts and it operates on a gravity principle. Since the process does not use water to recover the oil, energy requirements are minimal.

The partnership holds the rights to 13 oil sands leases in Utah consisting of 11,535 acres (46.68 km2) containing over 650,000,000 bbl of recoverable oil.

The joint venture owns a 200 bbl per day mobile pilot plant and preparing a 2,000 bbl per day commercial production unit. The production capacity is expected to increase up 50,000 bbl per day by the end of 2009. The system has been improved to maintain processing levels at cold temperatures. A steam jacket has been installed which creates drier sand and keeps the pumps, plumbing and the extraction chamber warmer during standby time, minimizing warm-up time. System performance has improved with the installation of more powerful pumps and additional sensors for better indications of mass flow, temperature and material levels. The upgraded process control provides more precise data required in order to measure the system's performance.

The partnership is between Nevtah Capital Management, Inc., and Black Sands Energy Corp. The extraction technology is provided by development by Black Sands Energy nd the financing is provided by Nevtah Capital Management. On 12 January 2007, Nevtah Capital Management and Black Sands Energy announced a joint venture agreement with Korea Technology Industry. According to the agreement, Korea Technology Industry provides $19 million for the development of the Whiterocks Deposit, in exchange of 50% of net profit. The joint venture agreement is limited to 100 million barrels of oil.

Manchurian oil sands and shales
China had discovered the outer edges of the region's oil, oil shale, oil sand, coal and natural gas reserves in 1929. Oil shale were extracted in rising amounts between 1929 to 1937, when it leveled off until 1944, with a fall in 1945. Tarakan crude oil from Bornio was mixed with lesser quantities of Manchurian oil shale distillates to make the primary feedstock for the production of Japanese diesel fuel in 1942. Australian troops ended the occupation of Tarakan and surrounding parts of Borneo in the June of 1945.

China tried to rebuild the Japanese plants and expand on them in 1959-1960 under a plan to increase thier fule supply so as to maintain fule indipendence once industry had eventuly taken of. Plans emerged in the 1970s and early 1980s. Modern activity started with plans in the late 1980 along with the growing industrial sector and exploration started in the 1990's, which in turn lead to the discovery of major finds in the local basin. Test drilling and mining started in the 2000s and major extraction work go underway in the 2010s.

Ploiești oil sands and shales
In the mid-19th century the Ploiești region was one of the world's leading oil extraction and refinery sites. The world's first large refinery opened at Ploiești in 1856-1857, with US investment.

Romania had been a major power in the oil industry since the 1800s. It was one of the largest producers in Europe and Ploiești was a major part of that production, hence it's fate in the Allied bombing of Romania in World War II. The Ploiești oil refineries provided about 30% of all Axis oil production.

Romania discovered some oil sands and shale near the oil producing town of Ploiești during the run up to WW2 and plans were made to use them if the conventional oil ran out, but it did not.

Operation Tidal Wave was an air attack by bombers of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) based in Libya and Southern Italy on nine oil refineries around Ploiești, Romania on 1 August 1943, during World War II. It was a strategic bombing mission and part of the "oil campaign" to deny petroleum-based fuel to the Axis. The mission resulted in "no curtailment of overall product output".

In 1950, as a milestone in the development of the petroleum, hydrocarbon processing, and petrochemical industries, the Engineering and Design Institute for Oil Refineries and Petrochemical Plants, SC IPIP SA, a Romanian company with a large range of capabilities and experience, was established at Ploiești. The oil and gas field still produces a modest amount of oil to date.

Synthetic crude
Synthetic crude oil, also known as syncrude, is the output from a bitumen upgrader facility used in connection with oil sand production in Canada. Bituminous sands are mined using enormous (100 ton capacity) power shovels and loaded into even larger (400 ton capacity) dump trucks for movement to an upgrading facility. The process used to extract the bitumen from the sand is a hot water process originally developed by Dr. Karl Clark of the University of Alberta during the 1920s. After extraction from the sand, the bitumen is fed into a bitumen upgrader which converts it into a light crude oil equivalent. This synthetic substance is fluid enough to be transferred through conventional oil pipelines and can be fed into conventional oil refineries without any further treatment. By 2015 Canadian bitumen upgraders were producing over 1 million barrels (160×103 m3) per day of synthetic crude oil, of which 75% was exported to oil refineries in the United States.

In Alberta, five bitumen upgraders produce synthetic crude oil and a variety of other products: The Suncor Energy upgrader near Fort McMurray, Alberta produces synthetic crude oil plus diesel fuel; the Syncrude Canada, Canadian Natural Resources, and Nexen upgraders near Fort McMurray produce synthetic crude oil; and the Shell Scotford Upgrader near Edmonton produces synthetic crude oil plus an intermediate feedstock for the nearby Shell Oil Refinery. A sixth upgrader, under construction in 2015 near Redwater, Alberta, will upgrade half of its crude bitumen directly to diesel fuel, with the remainder of the output being sold as feedstock to nearby oil refineries and petrochemical plants.

Synthetic crude is the output from a bitumen/extra heavy oil upgrader facility used in connection with oil sand production. It may also refer to shale oil, an output from an oil shale pyrolysis. The properties of the synthetic crude depend on the processes used in the upgrading. Typically, it is low in sulfur and has an API gravity of around 30. It is also known as "upgraded crude".

Synthetic crude is an intermediate product produced when an extra-heavy or unconventional oil source is upgraded into a transportable form. Synthetic crude is then shipped to oil refineries where it is further upgraded into finished products. Synthetic crude may also be mixed, as a diluent, with heavy oil to create synbit. Synbit is more viscous than synthetic crude, but can be a less expensive alternative for transporting heavy oil to a conventional refinery.

Syncrude Canada, Suncor Energy Inc., and Canadian Natural Resources Limited are the three largest worldwide producers of synthetic crude with a cumulative production of approximately 600,000 barrels per day (95,000 m3/d). The NewGrade Energy Upgrader became operational in 1988, and was the first upgrader in Canada, now part of the CCRL Refinery Complex.

Overview
Syncrude Canada Ltd. is one of the world's largest producers of synthetic crude oil from oil sands and the largest single source producer in Canada. It is located just outside Fort McMurray in the Athabasca Oil Sands, and has a nameplate capacity of 350,000 barrels per day (56,000 m3/d) of oil, equivalent to about 13% of Canada's consumption. It has approximately 5.1 billion barrels (810,000,000 m3) of proven and probable reserves (11.9 billion when including contingent and prospective resources) situated on 8 leases over 3 contiguous sites. Including fully realized prospective reserves, current production capacity could be sustained for well over 90 years.

The company is a joint venture between five partners. As a result, Syncrude is not traded directly, but rather through the individual owners. As of June 2016, the partners (by percentage): Suncor Energy (53.74%), Imperial Oil (25%), Sinopec (9.03%), Nexen (7.23%), and Mocal Energy (a subsidiary of Nippon Oil Exploration) (5%). Because of Nexen's subsequent takeover by CNOOC, over 16% of the shares in Syncrude are controlled by State Owned Enterprises (SOE).

The ownership board must approve all annual operating budgets and proposed capital spending projects, and are required to provide the funding for said activities based on their ownership share.

Corporate History
Syncrude was formed as a research consortium in 1964. Construction at the Syncrude site began in 1973, and it officially opened in 1978. Starting in 1996, Syncrude has been expanding its operations. Between 1996 and 1999, the original mine was expanded and the plant was "debottlenecked", increasing production from 73.5 million barrels (11,690,000 m3) per year in 1996 to 81.4 million in 1999. The total cost of this stage of expansion was $470 million. Between 1998 and 2001, a new mine, Aurora, was opened 35 km north of the original site, and further debottlenecking was undertaken. Production started in Aurora in July 2001. Syncrude's production increased to 90 million barrels (14,000,000 m3) per year by the end of 2001. Total cost for this stage was $1 billion.

A third stage of expansion was undertaken between 2001 and 2006, in which a second train at the Aurora line came online and the Mildred Lake upgrader was expanded. The expansion added 100,000 barrels per day (16,000 m3/d) to Syncrude's production (36.5 million barrels (5,800,000 m3) a year assuming this is average). The cost was $8.4 billion, a substantial cost overrun over the original estimate of $5.7 billion.

On April 12, 2010, ConocoPhillips agreed to sell its share to Sinopec, a Chinese state-owned oil company. The sale, for $4.65 billion, was completed on June 25, 2010.

A 183 m (600 ft) smokestack is located at the facility which is the second tallest in western Canada.

In April 2016, Suncor announced that they had reached a $937-million deal to acquire Murphy Oil Corp.'s five per cent stake in the Syncrude project north of Fort McMurray, Alta. This follows the hostile takeover of Canadian Oil Sands less than a year ago, and will increase its interest in Syncrude from just under 49 per cent to nearly 54 per cent, making it the majority shareholder of the project.

The 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire forced a complete shutdown of Syncrude's facilities.

Pollution controversy
Air releases of combined gases without volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by Syncrude Canada in 2005 were 129,741,321 (kg) in total, including ammonia (4,302,361 kg), sulphuric acid (1,129,425 kg), xylene (501,461 kg), etc. The company was also ranked as having the seventh highest air releases of combined gases (without VOC) in Canada in 2005. Syncrude's Mildred Lake Plant Site is the largest greenhouse gas emitter in Canada emitting 12,359,420 tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2012.

Corporate stats

 * 1) Name- Syncrude Canada Ltd.
 * 2) Corporate type- #Joint Venture
 * 3) Industry- Oil and Gas
 * 4) Founded- December 1964
 * 5) Headquarters- Fort McMurray, Alberta
 * 6) Products- Petroleum
 * 7) Number of employees- 5,600 (2009)
 * 8) Website- www.syncrude.ca

Locations
N. Korea
 * 1) Canada
 * 2) Melville Island
 * 3) Baffin Island
 * 4) Athabasca oil sands
 * 5) Northen Secatuain
 * 6) Norythern Manitoba
 * 7) South eastern British Colombia
 * 8) Southern Yukon
 * 9) Venezuela
 * USA
 * 1) Utah
 * 2) Southern Alaska
 * 3) California
 * 4) Louisiana
 * 5) Montana
 * 6) Texas
 * 7) New York
 * 8) Conetticutte
 * 9) Ohio
 * 10) Illinois
 * 11) Florida
 * 12) N. Dakota
 * 13) Australia
 * 14) Uganda
 * 15) Kenya
 * 16) Berundi
 * 17) Ruwanda
 * 18) Tanzania
 * 19) Greenland
 * 20) France
 * 21) Poland
 * 22) Greece
 * 23) Bulgaria
 * 24) Iceland
 * 25) Sweeden
 * 26) Norway
 * 27) Finland
 * 28) Spain
 * 29) Italy
 * 30) Bosnia
 * 31) Madigascar
 * 32) S. Africa
 * 33) Barbados
 * 34) Bahamas
 * 35) Cuba
 * 36) Oman
 * 37) Argentina
 * 38) China
 * 39) Junggar Basin
 * 40) Tarim Basin
 * 41) Turpan Basin
 * 42) Qaidam Basin
 * 43) Ordos Basin
 * 44) Scichuan Basin
 * 45) Jianghan Basin
 * 46) Subie Basin
 * 47) Songlaio Basin
 * 48) Pearl River Mouth Basin
 * 49) South China Basin
 * 50) Yangtze Basin
 * 51) Kazakhstan
 * 52) To the north of the Caspian Sea
 * 53) In the north of the Caspian Sea
 * 54) Russia
 * 55) Tunguska Basin
 * 56) Tatarstan
 * 57) Dagestan
 * 58) Central Urals Mountains
 * 59) Sakhaslin Island
 * 60) Mongolia
 * 61) Estonia
 * 62) Latvia
 * 63) Lithuania
 * 64) Belorussian
 * 65) Ukraine
 * 66) Nova-Russia
 * 67) Afghanistan
 * 68) Pakistan
 * 69) Tajikistan
 * 70) Turkmenistan
 * 71) Uzbekistan
 * 72) Azerbaijan
 * 73) Armenian
 * 74) Georgia
 * 75) Moldavia
 * 76) Transdentstria
 * 77) Nagorno-Karabach
 * 78) N. Osetia
 * 79) Chechnya
 * 80) Albania,
 * 81) Trinidad
 * 1) Romania
 * 2) Serbia
 * 3) Bosnia
 * 4) Hungary
 * 5) Croatia
 * 6) Macedonia
 * 7) Greece
 * 8) Slovenia
 * 9) Italy
 * 10) Poland
 * 11) Madagascar
 * 12) Tsimiroro
 * 13) Bemolanga
 * 14) Republic of the Congo
 * 15) Brazil
 * 16) Guyana
 * 17) Colombia
 * 18) Equator
 * 19) Peru
 * 20) Nigeria
 * 21) India
 * 22) Iran
 * 23) Ghana
 * 24) Egypt
 * 25) North Sudan
 * 26) South Sudan
 * 27) Mexico
 * 28) Saudi Arabia
 * 29) Kuwait
 * 30) Iraq
 * 31) Turkey
 * 32) Jordan
 * 33) Syria
 * 34) Vietnam
 * 35) Burma
 * UK
 * 1) Mid Wales coastline
 * 2) Dorset
 * 3) Lankashire,
 * 4) Durhamshire,
 * 5) E. Yorkshire
 * 6) Oxfordshire
 * 7) Berkshire
 * 8) Surrey
 * 9) Essex
 * 10) North Norfolk
 * 11) South Lincolnshire
 * 12) Bukinghamshire
 * 13) Derbyshire
 * 14) Staffordshire
 * 15) Devon
 * 16) Sterlingshire
 * 17) Cornwall
 * 18) Vale of Glamorgan
 * 19) Monmouthshire
 * 20) Tayside
 * 21) Northumbrian coast
 * 22) Cumbrian coast
 * 23) Dumfress-shire
 * 24) Inverness-shire.
 * 25) Easter Ross
 * 26) Malaysia
 * 27) Indonesia
 * 28) Thailand
 * 29) Uganda
 * 30) Niger
 * 31) Kenya
 * 32) Tanzania
 * 33) Senegal
 * 34) Mozambique
 * 35) Somalia
 * 36) Ethiopia
 * DRC
 * 1) Angola
 * 2) Mexico
 * 3) Bolivia
 * 4) Paraguay
 * 5) Uruguay
 * 6) Brazil
 * 7) Pakistan
 * 8) Morocco
 * 9) Libya
 * 10) Algeria
 * 11) Slovakia
 * 12) Austria
 * 13) Luxembourg
 * 14) Switzerland
 * 15) Liechtenstein
 * 16) France
 * 17) Belgian
 * 18) Netherlands
 * 19) Denmark
 * 20) Hungary
 * 21) Czech Republic

In May 2008, the Italian oil company Eni announced a project to develop a small oil sands deposit in the Republic of the Congo. Production is scheduled to commence in 2014 and is estimated to eventually yield a total of 40,000 bbl/d (6,400 m3/d). The reserves are estimated between 0.5 and 2.5 Gbbl (79×106 and 397×106 m3).

Methods for extraction include Cold heavy oil production with sand, steam assisted gravity drainage, steam injection, vapor extraction, Toe-to-Heel Air Injection (THAI), and open-pit mining for extremely sandy and oil-rich deposits.

Also see

 * 1) 1970s energy crises
 * 2) Atomic power stations
 * 3) Energy
 * 4) Time line of Iraq

Links

 * 1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncrude
 * 2) http://www.syncrude.ca/
 * 3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_sands
 * 4) http://www.2b1stconsulting.com/boe/
 * 5) http://oilsandstruth.org/russian-tar-sands
 * 6) http://www.capp.ca/canadian-oil-and-natural-gas/oil-sands/what-are-oil-sands
 * 7) http://priceofoil.org/campaigns/extreme-fossil-fuels/no-extreme-fossil-fuels-tar-sands/
 * 8) http://business.financialpost.com/news/energy/europe-softens-stance-on-canadas-oil-sands-as-relations-with-russia-sour
 * 9) http://www.statoil.com/en/about/worldwide/northamerica/canada/oilsands/pages/oilsands.aspx
 * 10) http://business.financialpost.com/news/energy/why-chinas-mood-is-souring-on-canadas-oil-patch?__lsa=b046-f4d6
 * 11) http://mainc.info/nth/og/pubs/prosp/chap5-eng.pdf
 * 12) http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/access/297535292.html?dids=297535292:297535292&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Jul+27%2C+1938&author=By+D.M.+Edwards&pub=Christian+Science+Monitor&desc=Treasure+of+the+Arctic&pqatl=google
 * 13) http://www.geohelp.net/history.html
 * 14) http://www.albertasource.ca/petroleum/industry/historic_dev_canada_arctic.html
 * 15) http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=9d5b3935-8689-4314-b437-2299f6526bcc
 * 16) http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/national/story.html?id=dd5b3820-6b22-43a4-81a2-0d7620067a5e
 * 17) http://ostseis.anl.gov/guide/maps/index.cfm http://ostseis.anl.gov/documents/maps/OSTS002_UtahTarSands.pdf
 * 18) http://ostseis.anl.gov/guide/tarsands/index.cfm
 * 19) http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=1708232
 * 20) http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=1708232
 * 21) http://www.nevtahoilsands.com/the-utah-tar-sands.htm The Utah Tar Sands.
 * 22) http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m5CNK/is_2007_Jan_12/ai_n24998908
 * 23) https://www.flickr.com/photos/boobook48/8231343515
 * 24) https://www.flickr.com/photos/boobook48/8231344141?ytcheck=1
 * 25) http://www.avalanchepress.com/ManchurianOil.php
 * 26) http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-02-28/sunshine-oilsands-taps-china-for-output-boost-corporate-canada
 * 27) https://www.amazon.com/Fragrance-Oil-Reminiscence-jasmine-mandarin/dp/B00D9DEWUE?ie=UTF8&ascsubtag=shopzilla_mp_1199-20%3B14693722069003189705010090302008005&creative=395105&creativeASIN=B00D9DEWUE&linkCode=df0&ref_=asc_df_B00D9DEWUE4348016&smid=A3A63D76HKPKJO&tag=shopz0d-20
 * 28) http://www.scmp.com/business/commodities/article/1387098/chinas-oil-sands-bet-goes-sour-canada
 * 29) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicholas-ostroy/albertas-oil-sands-china-_b_1121471.html
 * 30) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/chinas-oil-sands-deal-will-have-lasting-impact/article1357620/
 * 31) http://energychinaforum.com/news/88918.shtml
 * 32) http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/china_oil_basin_map.png
 * 33) http://boereport.com/2013/10/25/north-america-leads-the-world-in-production-of-shale-gas/
 * 34) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/feb/20/canada-eu-tar-sands
 * 35) http://www.nexencnoocltd.com/en/Operations/OilSands.aspx
 * 36) http://www.ccmresearch.co.uk/oil-sands.html
 * 37) http://www.no-tar-sands.org/
 * 38) http://www.zazzle.ca/welsh_oil_rig_trash_sticker_wales_oil_rigs_gas_round_sticker-217193030126997539
 * 39) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/nov/27/canada-oil-sands-uk-backing
 * 40) http://www.ostseis.anl.gov/guide/tarsands/index.cfm
 * 41) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15889665
 * 42) http://www.rcinet.ca/en/2014/11/18/u-k-groups-protest-canadian-oilsands-lobbying/
 * 43) http://subscribe.energyandcapital.com/97584
 * 44) http://www.plus500.co.uk/Instruments/CL
 * 45) http://geology.com/articles/oil-sands/
 * 46) http://www.mining.com/eu-spares-canadian-oil-sands-the-dirty-fuel-label-93109/
 * 47) http://repository.icse.utah.edu/dspace/bitstream/123456789/6817/1/Utah-Tar-248.pdf
 * 48) http://berkshireoilinc.com/
 * 49) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_sands
 * 50) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Oil_Sands_Joint_Venture
 * 51) http://ostseis.anl.gov/guide/tarsands/index.cfm
 * 52) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_sands
 * 53) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asphalt
 * 54) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_crude
 * 55) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86NG0j0wi1s
 * 56) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athabasca_oil_sands
 * 57) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_sands
 * 58) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_sands
 * 59) http://www.2b1stconsulting.com/boe/
 * 60) http://ostseis.anl.gov/guide/tarsands/
 * 61) http://www.oilsandsfactcheck.org/what-are-oil-sands/
 * 62) http://jobs.bakkenshale.com/
 * 63) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ploie%C8%99ti#Economy
 * 64) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tidal_Wave
 * 65) http://www.osti.gov/scitech/biblio/6567632
 * 66) http://www.southampton.ac.uk/~imw/Kimmeridge-Oil-Shale.htm
 * 67) https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Groups-and-Networks/Specialist-Groups/History-of-Geology-Group/~/media/shared/documents/specialist%20and%20regional%20groups/hogg/hogg_weymouth%20abstract%20book.ashx
 * 68) http://one-potato-two-potato.blogspot.co.uk/
 * 69) http://www.hubbertpeak.com/laherrere/oilshalereview200509.pdf
 * 70) https://web.archive.org/web/20080512122018re_/encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761576221/petroleum.html
 * 71) http://www.sdnp.jo/International_Oil_Conference/rtos-A106.pdf
 * 72) https://e-reports-ext.llnl.gov/pdf/243505.pdf
 * 73) http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Coaxing-oil-from-huge-U-S-shale-deposits-2489359.php
 * 74) https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33359.pdf
 * 75) http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/newsroom/2005/september/NR_050920.html
 * 76) http://ostseis.anl.gov/eis/what/index.cfm