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.
The Costly Compromises of Oil From Sand
by IAN AUSTEN
Published: January 6, 2009
New York Times
OTTAWA — The oil that is extracted from Canadian dirt is being portrayed as saving America from energy dependence on the unstable Middle East, or an environmental catastrophe in the making — depending on the perspective.
The Conservative government of Canada, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has championed the industry.
Syncrude worker found dead at Mildred Lake site
Updated: Thu Jan. 01 2009 18:47:13
ctvedmonton.ca
It was a tragic end to 2008 for a Syncrude employee in northern Alberta. The worker was found unconscious at Syncrude's Mildred Lake upgrader at about 10:30 Wednesday morning.
He was discovered on a catwalk in the Hydro Processing area of the upgrader. He was rushed to hospital in Fort McMurray where he was pronounced dead.
Occupational Health and Safety is investigating. A provincial government spokesperson says it appears the employee was struck by a piece of falling ice.
WANING of the BOOM
Once the dream factory for 24,000 mobile workers, Fort McMurray's slowdown may be most devastating for the communities across Canada who export them.
GORDON PITTS
December 29, 2008
FORT McMURRAY, ALTA. -- Hungry young tradesmen like Evan Brewer used to be as plentiful on the ground in Fort McMurray as chips at the Boomtown Casino. They'd get off the plane from Atlantic Canada and score big money in the oil sands.
Petro-Canada working on costs
Claudia Cattaneo, Financial Post Published: Friday, December 12, 2008
CALGARY -- Petro-Canada is seeing "a pretty good response" as it re-negotiates deals to bring down costs at its delayed Fort Hills oil sands project, Ron Brenneman, chief executive, said Friday.
"I don't know where it will end up or whether it's enough to make a difference in the overall project economics," but costs are moving down and are becoming more predictable, Mr. Brenneman said in an interview.
by James Howard
Energy Bulletin (December 01 2008)
Peak Oil and Climate Change are two historic events for humans and life
on earth. The first threatens modern industrial ways of living and the
latter threatens the climatic systems that are an integral part of our
world and the way we live and survive.
A quick recap on both. Peak Oil is the point of historic maximum global
oil flow, Climate Change is the alteration of established climate
systems due to (in this case, anthropogenic) global warming. The onset
Peak coal to follow peak oil?
mongabay.com
December, 19, 2008
Is peak coal coming sooner than we think?
Governments have greatly overestimated global coal reserves according to estimates presented by a geologist at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
David Rutledge, a professor of engineering at Caltech, estimates economically recoverable coal reserves at 400 billion tons worldwide. By comparison, governments claim 850 billion to 998 billion tons of recoverable coal.
New Technology Could Help Oil Sands Producers (SU)
SRI Consulting published a new report on producing crude oil from western Canada's oil sands deposits. The report concludes that "with rational engineering and prudent business decision making, grass roots tar sands projects should be economically viable at benchmark crude oil prices below US$60 a barrel." This brings about good news and bad news for the Canadian Oil Sands sector.
Voyageur contractors to stay home
Suncor asks workers to hold off ‘remobilizing’ in wake of plummeting oil prices
December 22, 2008
By CAROL CHRISTIAN // Today staff
Some contractors have been asked not to return to Suncor Energy right after Christmas as the company revisits its Voyageur project as oil prices sink lower than predicted.
Suncor spokesman Brad Bellows confirmed this morning the company has asked some of its contractor workforce to hold off “remobilizing” immediately after Christmas.
Bellows didn’t say how many workers would be affected.
Sunoco considering returning to the oilsands
By CAROL CHRISTIAN
Today staff
After more than a decade-long absence, Sunoco Inc. is looking to return to the Alberta oilsands by way of increased bitumen for its U.S. refineries.
Sunoco president Lynn Elsenhan outlined that business intention Monday during an analyst conference call. However, she didn’t offer any specific companies as potential partners for the Northern Alberta venture.
The company has started looking, however, and is looking long-term, according to company spokesman Thomas Golembeski.
Once-booming oilsands face uncertain future as list of cancelled projects grows
By JIM MACDONALD, The Canadian Press
December 22, 2008
EDMONTON — Thousands of workers from as far away as the Philippines are watching their jobs in Alberta evaporate as the richest oil boom in the province’s history deflates.
Sinking oil prices have forced skittish investors to hedge their bets on half a dozen multibillion-dollar oilsands projects, leaving one of the key engines of Canada’s economy teetering on an uncertain future.
