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| − | 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,<ref name="cenovus_SAGD">{{cite web|url=http://www.cenovus.com/operations/technology/sagd.html|title=Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD)|publisher=Cenovus}}On this site is a Cenovus animation on how SAGD works.</ref> which involves large scale excavation of the land with huge hydraulic power shovels and Caterpillar 797F|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 per cent of the oil sands will be developed ''in situ'' which accounts for 97.5 per cent of the total surface area of the oil sands region in Alberta."<ref name=CAPP2009What>{{cite web|url=http://www.capp.ca/CANADAINDUSTRY/OILSANDS/ENERGY-ECONOMY/Pages/what-are-oilsands.aspx|publisher=CAPP|year=2009|title=What are Oil Sands?}}</ref> In 2006 the Athabasca deposit was the only large oil sands petroleum | + | 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,<ref name="cenovus_SAGD">{{cite web|url=http://www.cenovus.com/operations/technology/sagd.html|title=Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD)|publisher=Cenovus}}On this site is a Cenovus animation on how SAGD works.</ref> which involves large scale excavation of the land with huge hydraulic power shovels and Caterpillar 797F|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 per cent of the oil sands will be developed ''in situ'' which accounts for 97.5 per cent of the total surface area of the oil sands region in Alberta."<ref name=CAPP2009What>{{cite web|url=http://www.capp.ca/CANADAINDUSTRY/OILSANDS/ENERGY-ECONOMY/Pages/what-are-oilsands.aspx|publisher=CAPP|year=2009|title=What are Oil Sands?}}</ref> In 2006 the Athabasca deposit was the only large oil sands petroleum 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 Petroleum production.<ref name="albertasoilsands2006" /> |
=History= | =History= | ||
Alberta is a western province of Canada. With a population of 3,645,257 in 2011 and an estimated population of 4,145,992 as of October 1, 2014,[1] it is Canada's fourth-most populous province and most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces. Alberta and its neighbour, Saskatchewan, were established as provinces on September 1, 1905.[2] The current premier of the province is Rachel Notley. Alberta is bounded by the provinces of British Columbia to the west and Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the U.S. state of Montana to the south. Alberta is one of three Canadian provinces and territories to border only a single U.S. state and is also one of only two provinces that are landlocked. Edmonton, the capital city of Alberta, is located near the geographic center of the province and is the primary supply and service hub for Canada's crude oil, oil sands (Athabasca oil sands) and other northern resource industries. Approximately 290 km (180 mi) south of the capital is Calgary, Alberta's largest city. Calgary and Edmonton center Alberta's two census metropolitan areas, both of which have populations exceeding one million.
Alberta is the largest producer of conventional crude oil, synthetic crude, natural gas and gas products in Canada. Alberta is the world’s second largest exporter of natural gas and the fourth largest producer.[3] Two of the largest producers of petrochemicals in North America are located in central and north-central Alberta. In both Red Deer and Edmonton, polyethylene and vinyl manufacturers produce products that are shipped all over the world. Edmonton's oil refineries provide the raw materials for a large petrochemical industry to the east of Edmonton.
The 'Athabasca oil sands' (also called the Athabasca tar sands or Alberta tar 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 oil sands and Cold Lake oil sands (the latter stretching into Saskatchewan).[4]
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 (270×10^9 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 (28.3×10^9 m3), or about 10% of these deposits.[4] These contribute to Canada's total proven reserves being the third largest in the world, after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela's Orinoco Belt.[5]
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,[6] which involves large scale excavation of the land with huge hydraulic power shovels and Caterpillar 797F|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 per cent of the oil sands will be developed in situ which accounts for 97.5 per cent of the total surface area of the oil sands region in Alberta."[7] In 2006 the Athabasca deposit was the only large oil sands petroleum 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 Petroleum production.[5]
Main Article: Alberta Energy Regulator
The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) is the regulatory organization established under the 2012 Responsible Energy Development Act. Under the Act the AER is charged with “the safe, efficient, orderly, and environmentally responsible development of hydrocarbon resources over their entire life cycle”[8] within the province of Alberta. The AER was created to centralize and simplify the regulatory structure around oil and gas development, consolidating enforcement of the energy development aspects of the Water Act, the Public Lands Act, The Mines and Minerals Act and the Environmental Protection Enhancement Act.[9] The current Chair of the Board of Directors is Gerry Protti, and the AER's CEO is Jim Ellis.
The AER is responsible for regulating some of the world’s largest reserves of hydrocarbons as well as the infrastructure associated with these resources, including pipelines, wells and processing facilities. In order to ensure the development of these resources is carried out safely and in accordance with existing regulations, the AER is empowered to review proposed energy developments; inspect and oversee energy projects at all stages of their life cycle; correct and penalize non-compliance; and hold public hearings on proposed oil and gas projects. [10]
Under the Responsible Energy Development Act, the AER has the authority to oversee all energy related applications for development made under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, the Water Act, the Public Lands Act, and the Mines and Minerals Act. As the single energy regulator the AER is authorised to regularly inspect oil and gas developments, and utilize enforcement mechanisms to ensure regulatory compliance. [11]
The AER is also responsible for receiving, analyzing and responding to Statements of Concern from landowners, and other stakeholders including First Nations. The AER, after receiving these Statements of Concern, is empowered to hold a public hearing conducted by a panel of AER hearing commissioners. The hearing determines whether complainants “rights might be directly and adversely affected by an application”[12] and have the capacity to withhold or revoke a development application. Additionally, the AER manages the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) which is intended to resolve disputes between members of the public and oil and gas companies, or between two or more oil and gas companies by providing mediation and arbitration services.[13]
Alberta, with an area of 661,848 km2 (255,500 sq mi), is the fourth largest province after Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia.[14] To the south, the province borders on the 49th parallel north, separating it from the U.S. state of Montana, while on the north the 60th parallel north divides it from the Northwest Territories. To the east, the 110th meridian west separates it from the province of Saskatchewan, while on the west its boundary with British Columbia follows the 120th meridian west south from the Northwest Territories at 60°N until it reaches the Continental Divide at the Rocky Mountains, and from that point follows the line of peaks marking the Continental Divide in a generally southeasterly direction until it reaches the Montana border at 49°N.
Alberta lies within the The Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB). The WCSB is a vast sedimentary basin underlying 1,400,000 square kilometres (540,000 sq mi) of Western Canada including southwestern Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan, Alberta, northeastern British Columbia and the southwest corner of the Northwest Territories. It consists of a massive wedge of sedimentary rock extending from the Rocky Mountains in the west to the Canadian Shield in the east. This wedge is about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) thick under the Rocky Mountains, but thins to zero at its eastern margins. The WCSB contains one of the world's largest reserves of petroleum and natural gas and supplies much of the North American market, producing more than 16,000,000,000 cubic feet (450,000,000 m3) per day of gas in 2000. It also has huge reserves of coal. Of the provinces and territories within the WCSB, Alberta has most of the oil and gas reserves and almost all of the oil sands.
The WCSB is considered a mature area for exploration of petroleum[15] and recent development has tended toward natural gas and oil sands rather than conventional oil. In the WCSB, conventional oil is of two different types: light crude oil and heavy crude oil, each with different costs, prices, and development strategies. Conventional light oil is a mature industry with most of the recoverable oil reserves already produced and production declining by three to four percent per year. Conventional heavy oil is also past its production peak with a future of long-term decline. Alberta, which contains most of the reserves, expects its light-medium crude oil production to decline by 42% from 2006 to 2016, while it expects heavy crude production to decrease by 35% over the same period. However, it also expects bitumen and synthetic crude oil from oil sands will considerably more than offset the decline in conventional crude oil and account for 87% of Alberta oil production by 2016.
Additionally the WCSB contains the majority of Canada's natural gas resources. The WCSB is estimated to have 143 trillion cubic feet (4,000 km3) of marketable gas remaining (discovered and undiscovered), which represents about two thirds of Canadian gas reserves.