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.
Do you know where your oil comes from?
Canadians most certainly do. But it's not a pretty sight.
April 16, 2009
By Sandro Contenta
TORONTO — When President Barack Obama vowed this week to reverse U.S. dependence on "foreign oil," did he also mean Canada's? It's a question Americans might want to consider.
Council approves call to halt tar sands
Cara Loverock
Northern News Services
Published Friday, April 17, 2009
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A motion to stop new tar sands approvals in Alberta until certain measures are put in place was passed on Tuesday.
Nexen, Opti Canada may be targeted in oil sands deals
By Joe Carroll, Bloomberg
April 3, 2009
Nexen Inc. and Opti Canada Inc. may be among Canadian oil companies targeted for takeovers as a price collapse triggers a rush by larger producers to amass holdings in the biggest crude deposits outside Saudi Arabia.
BP 'still committed' to Sunrise: chairman
Claudia Cattaneo, Financial Post
Thursday, April 16, 2009
CALGARY -- BP PLC is considering a range of options to move forward the Sunrise oil sands project with partner Husky Energy Inc., including integrating carbon capture and storage to mitigate the environmental impact, chairman Peter Sutherland told the annual meeting of shareholders in London on Thursday.
Oilsands hearings due in Wood Buffalo in May
CAROL CHRISTIAN // April 16, 2009
Fort McMurray Today staff
The federal hearings on the impact of oilsands development on fresh water will be heading to the Wood Buffalo area next month, prompted by the urging of Edmonton MP Linda Duncan.
While hearings have been held in Ottawa since they resumed in March, hearing from government witnesses first, it was a bit of a battle to get them to Alberta, a victory that Duncan says was hard-fought.
Big-league players step up for oil sands
U.S. lobbying
By Claudia Cattaneo, Financial Post
March 11, 2009
As Alberta's oil sands industry struggles with depressed oil prices and opposition from the environmental movement, a new front is emerging to support it -- in Washington.
Suncor fined over $1-million
Apr. 02 2009
ctvcalgary.ca
Suncor and one of its contractors have been ordered to pay over $1 million in fines after pleading guilty to breaching environmental laws.
Suncor pleaded guilty to not having emissions controls at its Firebag oilsands facility.
The lack of pollution control equipment meant hydrogen sulphide and other compounds were released into the air.
For this violation, Suncor Energy Inc. has been fined $675,000.
Suncor is also in trouble for allowing sewage to be dumped into the Athabasca River.
Petro-Canada Cuts 200 Jobs From Oil-Sands Unit On Proj Delay
* APRIL 15, 2009
OTTAWA (Dow Jones)--Petro-Canada (PCZ) is cutting some 200 jobs in its oil-sands unit as its Fort Hills project remains stalled amid weakened oil prices and the stuttering economy.
The layoffs, which will affect nearly a third of the department's employees, are "absolutely not at all connected" to the merger with Suncor Energy Inc. (SU) announced last month, said Petro-Canada spokeswoman Kelli Stevens.
Doc’s claims ‘hurtful’: O’Connor
CAROL CHRISTIAN
Fort McMurray Today staff
After three years of drawing attention to elevated cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan, Dr. John O'Connor now finds himself at a loss to explain “hurtful” comments from a Health Canada medical officer of health that he misreported the cancers.
During the economic crash, we are seeing VERY cheap stocks in the major corporations in Tar Sands and oil in general. This article basically shows us what we should fear (we aren't all day traders, after all): the downturn will mean consolidation of the largest players, not stop or slow down production much at all in the long term and leave the tar sands with only the ardest to influence and effect mega-corps possible.
--M
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
A Supermajor Bargain in the Oil Patch
Peter Shearlock, Editor, Growth Company Investor
