Oil Sands Truth: Shut Down the Tar Sands

Alberta (& Saskatchewan) Tar Sands

The process of removing the tar from the sand involves incredible amounts of energy from clean-burning natural gas (with nuclear proposed along side), tremendous capital costs during build up, incredibly high petroleum prices to protect investments, and the largest single industrial contribution to climate change in North America. Production also involves the waste of fresh water from nearby lakes, rivers and aquifers that have already created toxic tailing ponds visible from outer space. None of the land strip mined has yet to be certified as reclaimed. It takes 4 tonnes of soil to produce one barrel of oil. The tar sands are producing over 1.2 million barrels of oil a day on average. The oil companies, Canada and the United States governments are proposing to escalate production to 5 million barrels, almost all destined for American markets-- and lower environmental standards while doing so. They also would need to violate the national and human rights of many indigenous nations who are rightly concerned about many dire social, environmental and economic repercussions on their communities.

To get the needed energy supplies, diluent for the bitumen and diverted freshwater to produce and then to transport the flowing heavy bitumen for refining would require massive new infrastructure and pipeline building from three different time zones in the Arctic, across British Columbia and through Alberta in a criss-cross pattern, into pipelines to such destinations as California, China, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Ontario, Illinois, Wisconsin and Texas. This entire project is now estimated at over $170 billion dollars. And after the whole process described so far, only then will all this dirty petroleum get burned and expel greenhouse gasses into the air causing further climate change.

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Alberta Tar Sands is a category limited to the location and production of tar sand bitumen, an area the size of the state of Florida in northern Alberta province. The giant processing plants near Fort McMurray where the land itself is strip mined as well as the primarily "in situ" in-ground steam separation/production and extraction plants in the Peace and Cold Lake Regions, all in Alberta, are the "Ground Zero" of the single largest industrial gigaproject ever proposed in human history. The process of removing the tar from the sand involves incredible amounts of energy from clean-burning natural gas (with nuclear proposed along side), tremendous capital costs during build up, incredibly high petroleum prices to protect investments, and the largest single industrial contribution to climate change in North America. Production also involves the waste of fresh water from nearby lakes, rivers and aquifers that have already created toxic tailing ponds visible from outer space. None of the land strip mined has yet to be certified as reclaimed. It takes 4 tonnes of soil to produce one barrel of oil. The tar sands are producing over 1.2 million barrels of oil a day on average. The oil companies, Canada and the United States governments are proposing to escalate production to 5 million barrels, almost all destined for American markets-- and lower environmental standards while doing so. They also would need to violate the national and human rights of many indigenous nations who are rightly concerned about many dire social, environmental and economic repercussions on their communities. To get the needed energy supplies, diluent for the bitumen and diverted freshwater to produce and then to transport the flowing heavy bitumen for refining would require massive new infrastructure and pipeline building from three different time zones in the Arctic, across British Columbia and through Alberta in a criss-cross pattern, into pipelines to such destinations as California, China, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Ontario, Illinois, Wisconsin and Texas. This entire project is now estimated at over $170 billion dollars. And after the whole process described so far, only then will all this dirty petroleum get burned and expel greenhouse gasses into the air causing further climate change.

EU to tackle Canadian tar sands in new law -sources

EU to tackle Canadian tar sands in new law -sources
Wed Feb 23, 2011 3:20pm GMT
Reuters

By Pete Harrison and Juliane von Reppert-Bismarck BRUSSELS, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Europe's trade and climate chiefs are preparing to take a stand against imports of oil from Canada's polluting tar sands, despite fears the move might wreck a multi-billion dollar trade deal, according to EU sources and documents.

European Union sources said this week that Canada had threatened to pull out of trade talks because of the clash, but Ottawa has denied that. [ID:nLDE71H14V]

Opti-Nexen's Long Lake plant not producing targets...

Long Lake oil sands output may lag targets

Thu Feb 10, 2011
By Scott Haggett and Jeffrey Jones

CALGARY, Alberta, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Nexen Inc, the operator of the Long Lake oil sands project, warned that output may fall short of forecasts because of operational problems that analysts say may take heavy spending to fix.

Nexen shares dropped more 3 percent on Thursday when it said January output fell at the underperforming oil sands project in the Canadian province of Alberta.

Exporting [tar sands] energy [through Thunder Bay].

Exporting energy
2011-02-07
By Jodi Lundmark,
tbnewswatch.com

According to the president of the Oil Sands Developers Groups, Thunder Bay's port and rail lines make the city an important gateway for oil exports.

It might surprise people to know that more than 21 per cent of the United States’ crude oil comes from Canada, said the president of the Oil Sands Developers Group.

Broker makes financial predictions in tar sands

Investing In the Oil Sands: 4 Stocks
Frank J. Constantino
February 13, 2011

It seems everyone, including investors, are coming to grips with the fact that higher crude oil prices are here to stay. The fact is, the U.S., China, and other world economies have a insatiable demand for oil. While we are dependent on the Middle East for most of our oil, there are alternatives. The Canadian oil sands region is in the Alberta region of Canada. This massive area of oil reserves is second in size only to Saudi Arabia.

OPTI 'going to zero,' RBC says

OPTI is the Israeli Ormat offshoot, designed to bring "cogeneration" (burning dirty waste gunk for 'in-house' energy) to Canada, ala to make it commercially viable to do the same to a similar oilshale deposit in the Negev Desert.

--M

OPTI 'going to zero,' RBC says
BOYD ERMAN
Globe and Mail Update
Posted on Wednesday, February 2, 2011

OPTI Canada's hiring of Lazard Frères & Co. is a sign that the oil sands developer is "preparing for either a debt restructuring or a bankruptcy proceeding" according to RBC Dominion Securities.

Suncor recording great profits

Higher Oil Sands, Downstream Earnings Benefit Suncor
by Allen Good | 02 Feb 11
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National Post: Egypt Crisis opens door for Tar Sands?

Egypt crisis opens door for oil sands

John Ivison, National Post · Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011

The escalating tension in Egypt has provided Stephen Harper with an unexpected opportunity to push for a guarantee that there will be no border tax on Canada's oil sands when he visits U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington on Friday.

The two men are expected to sign a major security and trade deal, which will likely be long on promises and short on specifics.

Energy regulator okays Alberta’s ninth open-pit oil sands mine (Joslyn Mine)

Energy regulator okays Alberta’s ninth open-pit oil sands mine
JOSH WINGROVE
Edmonton— Globe and Mail Update
Published Thursday, Feb. 03, 2011

Despite mounting criticism from academics and the federal government over Alberta’s patchwork environmental monitoring regime, a provincial energy regulator approved the province’s ninth open-pit oil sands mine last week.

The approval is based on data from the Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program, an industry-led body that has been the subject of extensive, pointed criticism from three separate reports over the past two months.

"Ditch oilsands monitoring group"

Ditch oilsands monitoring group

Edmonton Journal February 3, 2011

Imagine your boss gave you a job evaluation where you only passed one category out of nine. You would probably be packing up your desk or laying down your tools.

But not if your job was to monitor the impact of the oilsands on rivers and lakes. In that case, you'd be allowed to "adjust" your performance in the future.