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.
What Those Who Killed the Tar Sands Report Don't Want You to Know
Why did a parliamentary committee suddenly destroy drafts of a final report on tar sands pollution? Here's what they knew.
By Andrew Nikiforuk, 15 Jul 2010,
TheTyee.ca
Shredder
Shredded: Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development abruptly cancelled tar sands report.
CPPIB buys Laricina stake, extends oil sands foray
2010-07-06
By Pav Jordan
TORONTO, July 6 (Reuters) - Canada Pension Plan Investment Board extended its foray into Canada's oil and gas sector on Tuesday, buying a 17.1 percent stake in closely held Calgary oil sands company Laricina Energy Ltd.
The CPPIB, which invests surplus cash from the national Canada Pension Plan, has some C$127 billion ($121 billion) in assets under management. The board paid C$250 million, or C$30 each, to acquire more than 8.3 million common shares of Laricina in a private placement.
Total expands oil sand holdings
July 12, 2010
CALGARY, Alberta, July 12 (UPI) -- French energy company Total is looking to expand its holdings in oil sands through a $1 billion deal to tap into Alberta, Canada, recent transactions show.
Total is expanding its portfolio in Alberta's tar sands through a $1 billion bid for UTS Energy of Calgary, the Financial Times reports.
Alberta assets held by UTS Energy are estimated at more than 3 billion barrels of oil, the report adds.
Ignatieff — in Alberta — talks down proposed oilsands pipeline
By Renata D’Aliesio, Canwest News Service
July 11, 2010
CALGARY — Federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff chastised the Harper government Saturday for waiting too long to build a relationship with China — but he remained steadfast against the prospect of tankers shipping oilsands fuel to Asia from the northern B.C. coast.
Ignatieff, in Calgary for a Liberal Stampede breakfast fundraiser, renewed his call for a ban on oil tankers in northern British Columbia.
This project-- Devon Jackfish-- had only just announced their approval to double in size. They also just got a few million dollars as "cutting edge leaders" in C02 "capture" technology. They are supposed to be among the best of the tar sands companies in terms of "performance" and "doing the right thing".
Canadian Oil Sands Will Become Top US Crude Source
Published: Monday, 28 Jun 2010
By: Justin Solomon
CNBC Producer
As the future of offshore drilling remains in jeopardy, more investors and energy companies are focusing their attention on the US's neighbor to the north, Canada.
Canada has proven oil reserves of more than 170 billion barrels—second only to those in Saudi Arabia. Much of that crude lies beneath the tundra of Alberta in a thick oil, sand and water mixture called bitumen, more commonly called oil sand.
Devon Energy reports Alberta Oil Sands well leak
By Edward Welsch
CALGARY (MarketWatch) -- A blowout at one of Devon Energy Inc.'s oil sands wells in northeastern Alberta over the weekend sprayed an oil mist into the air for nearly 36 hours, the company and regulators said Monday.
Devon employees discovered a leak in one of the producer wells at the company's 35,000 barrel-a-day Jackfish facility mid-day Saturday and managed to seal the leak by midnight Sunday, a Devon spokeswoman said.
Total to Buy UTS to Expand in Canadian Oil Sands
July 07, 2010
By Kari Lundgren and Stephen Cunningham
July 7 (Bloomberg) -- Total SA, Europe’s second-biggest oil producer, will buy UTS Energy Corp. for C$1.5 billion ($1.4 billion) in cash and shares in a new company to boost its output from Canadian oil sands.
Canadian Oil Sands Unfairly Tainted By BP Fiasco
June 21, 2010
Gordon Pape is editor and publisher of The Canada Report.
The town of Bellingham, Washington (population 75,000) made news recently when the local council passed two resolutions effectively banning the use of fuel derived from the Canadian oil sands (or "tar sands" as environmentalists prefer to call it).
CPP invests $250M in oilsands
Federal pension plan buys 17 per cent of Laricina Energy Ltd.
July 6, 2010
CBC News
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has paid $250 million for a stake in a small Alberta oilsands firm.
On Tuesday, Canada's largest pension plan purchased 8,333,333 shares in Laricina Energy Ltd. for $30 per share in a private placement. After the sale, CPP will own 17 per cent of the energy company.
