26 Facts About Oil sands

Oil sands are either loose sands or partially consolidated sandstone containing a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, and water, soaked with bitumen, a dense and extremely viscous form of petroleum.

Together with other so-called unconventional oil extraction practices, oil sands are implicated in the unburnable carbon debate but contribute to energy security and counteract the international price cartel OPEC.

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.

Oil sands productions expand and prosper as the global price of oil increased to peak highs because of the Arab oil embargo of 1973, the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the 1990 Persian Gulf crisis and war, the 11 September 2001 attacks, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Name tar Oil sands was applied to bituminous Oil sands in the late 19th and early 20th century.

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Naturally occurring bitumen is chemically more similar to asphalt than to coal tar, and the term oil sands is more commonly used by industry in the producing areas than tar sands because synthetic oil is manufactured from the bitumen, and due to the feeling that the terminology of tar sands is less politically acceptable to the public.

The sands are saturated with oil which has prevented them from consolidating into hard sandstone.

Cold Lake oil sands are northeast of Alberta's capital, Edmonton, near the border with Saskatchewan.

Cold Lake oil sands are of a roughly circular shape, centered around Bonnyville, Alberta.

Bituminous sands are a major source of unconventional oil, although only Canada has a large-scale commercial oil sands industry.

Except for a fraction of the extra-heavy oil or bitumen which can be extracted by conventional oil well technology, oil sands must be produced by strip mining or the oil made to flow into wells using sophisticated in-situ techniques.

Athabasca oil sands are the only major oil sands deposits which are shallow enough to surface mine.

The oil sands themselves are typically 40 to 60 metres thick deposits of crude bitumen embedded in unconsolidated sandstone, sitting on top of flat limestone rock.

Since Great Canadian Oil Sands started operation of the first large-scale oil sands mine in 1967, bitumen has been extracted on a commercial scale and the volume has grown at a steady rate ever since.

Large number of oil sands mines are currently in operation and more are in the stages of approval or development.

Large volumes of tailings are a byproduct of surface mining of the oil sands and managing these tailings is one of the most difficult environmental challenges facing the oil sands industry.

Extra-heavy crude oil or crude bitumen extracted from oil sands is a very viscous semisolid form of oil that does not easily flow at normal temperatures, making it difficult to transport to market by pipeline.

The original oil sands upgraders were designed to produce a high-quality synthetic crude oil with lower density and lower sulfur content.

Some large oil sands upgraders produced diesel fuel as part of their operations.

Costs of production and transportation of saleable petroleum from oil sands is typically significantly higher than from conventional global sources.

Since the larger and more sophisticated refineries preferred to buy raw bitumen and heavy oil rather than synthetic crude oil, new oil sands projects avoided the costs of building new upgraders.

Shortage of skilled workers in the Canadian oil sands developed during periods of rapid development of new projects.

Alberta government computes an Air Quality Health Index from sensors in five communities in the oil sands region, operated by a "partner" called the Wood Buffalo Environmental Association.

Bulk of the research that defends the oil sands development is done by the Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program, whose steering committee is composed largely of oil and gas companies.

Concerns have been raised concerning the negative impacts that the oil sands have on public health, including higher than normal rates of cancer among residents of Fort Chipewyan.

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However, John O'Connor, the doctor who initially reported the higher cancer rates and linked them to the oil sands development, was investigated by the Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons.