A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Athabasca oil sands | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country | Canada |
| Region | Northern Alberta |
| Offshore/onshore | Onshore, mining |
| Coordinates | 57°01′N 111°39′W / 57.02°N 111.65°W |
| Operators | Syncrude, Suncor Energy, Canadian Natural Resources, Total S.A., Imperial Oil, Petro Canada, Devon Energy, Husky Energy, Statoil, Nexen |
| Partners | Chevron Corporation, Marathon Oil, ConocoPhillips, BP, Occidental Petroleum |
| Field history | |
| Discovery | 1848 |
| Start of production | 1967 |
| Production | |
| Current production of oil | 2,800,000 barrels per day (~1.4×108 t/a)[1] |
| Estimated oil in place | 133,000 million barrels (~1.81×1010 t)[2] |
| Producing formations | McMurray, Clearwater, Grand Rapids |
The Athabasca oil sands, also known as the Athabasca tar sands, are large deposits of bitumen, a heavy and viscous form of petroleum, located 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.[3]
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 a potential record high at the end of the year of approximately 5.3 million barrels per day (bpd).[4] The surge in production is attributed mainly to growth in Alberta's oilsands.[4] 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.[5][4] Despite this growth, there are warnings that it might be short-lived, with production potentially plateauing after 2024.[4] Canada's anticipated increase in oil output exceeds that of other major producers like the United States, and the country is poised to become a significant driver of global crude oil production growth in 2024.[4] 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.[4][6][7][8][9][10][11]
The Athabaska oil sands, along with 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,[12] Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP).
History
The Athabasca oil sands are named after the Athabasca River which cuts through 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.[13] The oil deposits are located within the boundaries of Treaty 8, and several First Nations of the area are involved with the sands.
Early history
 | This section needs expansion with: First Nations history of the Athabasca oil sands. You can help by adding to it. (July 2022) |
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 where Henry Kelsey was the manager.[14] 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 the Hudson Bay watershed.[15]
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 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 bitumen 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.[16]
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 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 the most extensive petroleum field in America, if not the world."[15]
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 the Arctic Ocean.[17] Her photographs were reproduced in 2011–2012 in an exhibit at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa,[18] 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.[citation needed]
Project Oilsand
Project Oilsand was a 1958 proposal to exploit the Athabasca oil sands using the underground detonation of nuclear explosives;[19] 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.[20] A patent was granted for the intended process in 1964.[21][22] The nuclear heating option is considered a forerunner to some of the conventional heating methods used to extract tar sands oil.[23]
In April 1959, the Federal Mines Department approved Project Oilsand.[24] However, it was subsequently cancelled in 1962.[25]
Great Canadian Oil Sands
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 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 a capacity of 45,000 barrels per day (7,200 m3/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.[26] 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.[27] The Great Canadian Oil Sands Limited (then 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 m3/d) of synthetic crude oil.[28]
Oil crisis
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 km2 (54,000 sq mi).[citation needed] (Although there is oil underlying 142,200 km2 (54,900 sq mi), which may be disturbed by drilling and in situ extraction, only 4,800 km2 (1,900 sq mi) may potentially be surface mined, and 904 km2 (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 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, 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 the formerly Canadian government owned oil company, Petro-Canada,[29][30] 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 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 is Suncor Energy. Suncor Energy continues to operate just one Sunoco retail site in Ontario.[31]
Oil sands production in the 21st century
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.[32]
Shell Canada's third mine began operating in 2003. However, as 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:
2005 production of crude bitumen Mine (m3/day) Barrels per day Suncor mine 31,000 195,000 Syncrude mine 41,700 262,000 Shell Canada mine 26,800 169,000 In situ projects 21,300 134,000 Total 120,800 760,000
As of 2006, oil sands production had increased to 1,126,000 barrels per day (179,000 m3/d). Oil sands were by then the source of 62% of Alberta's total oil production and 47% of all oil produced in Canada.[33] As of 2010, oil sands production had increased to over 1.6 million barrels per day (250,000 m3/d) to exceed conventional oil production in Canada. 53% of this 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 m3/d).[34]
Shale oil boom
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 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.
Fort McMurray wildfire
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 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 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.
2015 production of crude bitumen[35] Mine (m3/day) Barrels per day Suncor mine 80,000 501,000 Syncrude mine 65,000 407,000 Shell Canada mines 40,000 255,000 Imperial Oil mine 35,000 220,000 CNRL mine 24,000 152,000 In situ projects 138,000 865,000 Total 382,000 2,400,000
In 2018, oil sands production reached 3.1 million barrels per day (490,000 m3/d).
Until 2014, industry groups believed oil sands production levels could reach 5 Mbbl/d (790,000 m3/d) by 2030. As of 2021, after a slowdown in investment, analyst are predicting it could reach 3.8 Mbbl/d (600,000 m3/d) by that time.[36][37]
Transportation
Canada is the largest source of oil imported by the United States, supplying 3 million barrels per day (480,000 m3/d) chiefly from oil sands sources as of 2019.[38]
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.[39]
The North Gateway project to Kitimat, British Columbia, which would have been built by Enbridge, operator of 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.[40] 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.[41][42] Between January 2019 and December 2020, the Alberta government imposed a quota to adjust production to pipeline export capacity.[43]
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 m3/d) between 2012 and 2020.[44]
Future production
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 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 m3/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 m3/d) in 2008 to 3.3 million barrels per day (520,000 m3/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 m3/d) in 2020.[45] Even accounting for project cancellations, this would place Canada among 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 m3/d) of bitumen in 2012 and may reach 200,000 bbl/d (32,000 m3/d) by 2015–2020. BP would modify its Toledo refinery to process 170,000 bbl/d (27,000 m3/d) of bitumen directly to refined products. The joint venture would solve problems for both companies, since Husky 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.[46]
In mid December 2007, ConocoPhillips announced its intention to increase its oil sands production from 60,000 barrels per day (9,500 m3/d) to 1 million barrels per day (160,000 m3/d) over the next 20 years, which would make it 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 km2) under lease. Other major oil sands producers planning to increase their production include Royal Dutch Shell (to 770,000 bbl/d (122,000 m3/d)); Syncrude Canada (to 550,000 bbl/d (87,000 m3/d)); Suncor Energy (to 500,000 bbl/d (79,000 m3/d)) and Canadian Natural Resources (to 500,000 bbl/d (79,000 m3/d)).[47] If all these plans come to fruition, these five companies will be producing over 3.3 Mbbl/d (520,000 m3/d) of oil from oil sands by 2028.
| Project name | Type | Major partners | National affiliation |
2016 production (barrels/day) |
Planned production (barrels/day) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Millenium | Mining | Suncor Energy |  Canada
|
501,000 | 501,000 |
| Fort Hills | — | 180,000 | |||
| Firebag | SAGD | 273,000 | 398,000 | ||
| MacKay River | 38,000 | 58,000 | |||
| Mildred Lake, Aurora | Mining | Suncor(60%), Imperial Oil(25%), Sinopec(9%), CNOOC(7%) (Syncrude) | Canada,  China,  USA
|
407,000 | 607,000 |
| Jackpine, Muskeg | Mining | Shell(10%), Chevron(20%), CNRL(70%)[49] (Albian Sands) | Canada,  UK/ Netherlands, USA
|
255,000 | 570,000 |
| Kearl | Mining | Imperial Oil(70%), ExxonMobil(30%) | USA
|
220,000 | 345,000 |
| Horizon | Mining | Canadian Natural Resources Limited | Canada
|
197,000 | 277,000 |
| Jackfish I and II, Pike | SAGD | 105,000 | 175,000 | ||
| Kirby | 40,000 | 140,000 | |||
| Foster Creek | SAGD | Cenovus Energy[50] | Canada
|
180,000 | 260,000 |
| Christina Lake[51] | 160,800 | 310,000 | |||
| Grand Rapids | 10,000 | 180,000 | |||
| Narrow Lake | 45,000 | 130,000 | |||
| Surmont | SAGD | TotalEnergies(50%), ConocoPhillips(50%) |  France, USA
|
149,200 | 206,000 |
| Long Lake | SAGD | Nexen(65%), OPTI Canada(35%)[52][53] | China[54]
|
92,000 | 129,500 |
| Sunrise | SAGD | Husky Energy(50%), BP(50%)[55] | Canada, UK
|
60,000 | 200,000 |
| Christina Lake | SAGD | MEG Energy Corp
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