A persistent obstacle for Alberta oil production has been the transportation of oil from interior Canada to major markets. Lack of capacity in existing pipelines has bottlenecked production, and presently , barrels per day enter the U. But as U. But the plan was scrapped in amid strong opposition from indigenous communities, environmental advocates, and communities through which the pipeline would have passed.
Furthermore, the economic prospects of the pipeline were far from assured. The Northern Gateway pipeline , proposed by Enbridge in , would have taken the westward route, ending up in Kitimat, British Columbia. It was cancelled in , largely for environmental reasons. The Enbridge Line 3 upgrade is in the process of replacing an existing pipeline with one with larger capacity, increasing oil sands export by , barrels per day.
Like every other pipeline, it faces vocal pushback , though at present, construction is proceeding. The Keystone XL pipeline would have added , barrels per day of export capacity, carrying oil from Alberta to Nebraska where the pipeline would have linked into existing segments of the Keystone pipeline system.
The Keystone XL section of the pipeline was proposed initially in , under different circumstances than exist now. At that time, the U. While the Keystone XL pipeline became mired in turmoil, the oil industry was undergoing a historic transformation as the U. From to the end of , U. Alternatively, bitumen may be upgraded to make heavy crude oil.
Both these products can be further refined to make gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other petroleum-based products. Once extracted, the bitumen is refined. Some refining is done within the oil sands region or other Alberta refineries, but most is sent to refineries all over North America via pipeline , rail or marine transport. New technology and innovation are critical to developing the oil sands and improving environmental performance. Oil sands operators must adhere to stringent regulations.
Of the 34 Canadian oil sands operations measured in this study, led by Stanford University researchers, none fell below the global midpoint for emissions. Extracted bitumen is roughly the consistency of peanut butter, notes Joule Bergerson, co-author of the Science paper and professor of chemical petroleum engineering at the University of Calgary, so it naturally requires more energy than conventional crude to convert to gasoline.
Other oil sands crudes ranked fourth, seventh, 10th, 13th, 14th and 20th. CNRL executive chairman Steve Laut argues that green-minded people should look upon oil sands crude more favourably than oil from anywhere else in the world. But environmentalists question those assertions, and the argument holds even less water when it comes to the oil sands. Progress keeps coming, however. The challenge is sustaining that progress. Israel, the Pembina Institute analyst, agrees the sector has made progress on emissions.
Upgrading is a method of processing the bitumen that is extracted from the oil sands. Bitumen may also be blended with diluent e. Learn more about upgrading and petroleum products in Canada. Water management is a key challenge of the oil sands extraction process. The mining method uses 2.
Oil sands development is subject to environmental standards that are among the most stringent in the world. Reclamation means that land is returned to a self-sustaining ecosystem with local vegetation and wildlife.
The total mineable area is 4, squared kilometers, and the total area being mined is squared kilometers. Light tight oil also called shale oil is found in sedimentary rock characterized by very low permeability, typically shale rock.
Light tight oil and shale oil are extracted by using horizontal drilling combined with multi-stage hydraulic fracturing — the same techniques used for shale gas extraction. There is currently great potential for shale oil and light tight oil resources in Canada and the U.
Tight oil resources are largely found in a belt ranging from central Alberta to southern Texas. Prospective resources have also been identified throughout the Rocky Mountain region, the U. Gulf Coast and the northeastern U. Learn more about shale and tight resources in Canada.
Oil sands production has exceeded conventional oil production since In , oil sands production was 2. Oil sands production has generally been increasing since , peaking at 2. Conventional crude oil production also peaked in at 1. Crude oil is produced across the country from coast to coast to coast. In , Alberta had the highest amount of crude oil production in Canada.
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