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.
Suncor Energy reports oil sands production numbers for March 2008
CALGARY, April 3, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Suncor Energy Inc. reported today that production at its oil sands facility during March averaged approximately 248,000 barrels per day (bpd). Year-to-date oil sands production at the end of March averaged approximately 247,000 bpd. Suncor is targeting average oil sands production of 275,000 to 300,000 bpd in 2008.
Canada is in the middle of a quiet oil boom
Tar sands, long too expensive to process, help make it major U.S. source
By Peter Klein
CNBC
updated 2:29 p.m. MT, Mon., April. 7, 2008
Ft. McMurray, Alberta - With oil prices hovering near a hundred dollars a barrel, there’s a major oil boom underway. It’s not happening in the sweltering heat of Texas or the dry desert of Saudi Arabia, but on the frozen Canadian tundra where oil producers are developing a new source of fossil fuel.
Lubicon fight proposed TransCanada pipeline
© Indian Country Today April 04, 2008. All Rights Reserved
April 04, 2008
by: Kate Harries
TORONTO - The Lubicon Lake Indian Nation in northern Alberta is
gearing up to fight a proposed jumbo pipeline that would carry natural
gas from the Mackenzie Valley in the west to the oil sands
developments to the east.
The $983 million proposal follows a history of industrial development
across the unceded Lubicon territory that has left the 500-member Cree
nation impoverished, poisoned and disregarded by Canada and Alberta -
Oilsands opponents emerge
Group seeks exploration permit freeze; Environmental assessment needed during exploration phase, society says
Cassandra Kyle, The StarPhoenix
Published: Wednesday, April 02, 2008
A Saskatchewan environmental group has asked the provincial government to freeze oilsands exploration permits until a regional environmental assessment is completed in northwest Saskatchewan.
Iraq War
Five years of war in Iraq have hit home in Edmonton
DAVID BERRY / david@vueweekly.com
The further we get away from the actual date, the better Canada’s decision to not get involved with the US invasion of Iraq looks. Five years after the US launched its ill-conceived assault on the Middle Eastern nation, there aren’t many—except perhaps those in the highest offices of the American government—who consider the situation anything but a quagmire.
Clip from the article below:
He said Alberta, because of its ongoing labour woes, has become "ground zero" for the Temporary Foreign Worker program, which has expanded into "a huge social and economic experiment that's in the process of going horribly wrong."
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Taking a bet on oil sands
WITH crude oil hitting a record price of US$108 per barrel recently, the search for oil and gas has been more intense than ever due to its high profit margin.
In recent years, investing in the extraction of oil from sand or oil sands is gaining popularity because of the strong demand and high prices of oil.
With each new project, the practical viability of a mere moratorium on tar sands production becomes ever more clear.
Imperial CEO says oilsands needs to burnish its image
Claudia Cattaneo, Financial Post Published: Wednesday, March 12, 2008
When Tim Hearn started working at Imperial Oil Ltd. 41 years ago, oil was worth US$1.80 a barrel and natural gas 16¢ per thousand cubic feet.
With oil prices nearing US$110 and gas prices US$10,Mr. Hearn, 64, is retiring on March 31 as CEO and chairman of Imperial, leaving behind a company with no debt and pushing forward some of Canada's largest oil and gas projects. Mr. Hearn will be replaced by Bruce March, 51, an Exxon Mobil Corp. refining executive.
Tar Sands Exploration in Saskatchewan: The Environmental Impacts
Global Research, March 31, 2008
Saskatchewan Environmental Society
ENVIRONMENTALISTS CALL FOR FREEZE ON OIL SANDS EXPLORATION PERMITS
