Water is needed in huge amounts in tarsands production and in all other construction stages of tarsands infrastructure across the continent. It takes five litres of water to produce one of usable petrol. There is also water used to move gas, build new tar pits or that water which becomes polluted in the outlying areas. Waste tailings ponds are so vast as to be visible from outer space at this early point in production. Water is now being privatized in slow motion, as “access rights” are available in Alberta. As production grows and climate change continues to parch southern Albertan land, more and more water will be needed to help supply fuel for the American market. This water will ultimately be diverted from rivers, lakes, farms and cities throughout Canada; the water levels in the Athabasca River have already dropped several meters. The Deh Cho/Mackenzie River is already threatened, both from development along its valley and it is downstream from tar sands operations. A generation ago, the Athabasca River was clear and drinking was common. Now, those that live with the river consider it poison and off-limits.
The Estonian connection: Or how I started worrying about oil shale
High Country News
Jonathan Thompson | Dec 06, 2011 05:00 AM
The last big oil shale* boom in the West busted on “Black Sunday” 1982. I was 11 years old, then, living in Western Colorado, and I can still remember my dad explaining the boom, the bust and the process necessary to get the "oil" out of the shale.
Extreme Extraction
Oil production plans could reshape Morocco's economy and environment
by Macdonald Stainsby
November 17, 2011
Mediacoop.ca
RABAT, MOROCCO-- Many well-known voices trying to address the climate crisis on a global scale have posited that less developed countries without a full-blown industrial base can skip industrialization all together and transition away from fossil fuels. Ideally, the development that will take place in this scenario would result in the construction of infrastructure for a post-fossil fuel society.
Oil in the Desert
Will water be sacrificed to oil in Jordan?
by Macdonald Stainsby
The Dominion
December 7, 2011
Tsleil-Waututh First Nation To fight Kinder Morgan Expansion
BC Local News
December 20, 2011
Kinder Morgan's plan to more than double its ability to send crude oil by pipeline through the Lower Mainland to tankers on Burrard Inlet will be opposed by the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation.
The company aims to twin its Trans Mountain pipeline from Alberta, boosting its capacity from 300,000 barrels per year to up to 700,000 and increasing the number of oil tankers that sail past downtown Vancouver.
Explorations pétrolières
Le danger est inévitable selon l’AVG
L’alliance « Voahary gasy » (AVG) a recommandé d’arrêter l’exploration et l’exploitation du pétrole con-conventionnel dans les sites de Bemolanga et de Tsimiroro. Toutes les activités liées à l’exploration ont actuellement des effets néfastes non seulement sur l’environnement et les richesses en biodiversité mais surtout sur la santé des communautés environnantes.
Oil in the Desert
Will water be sacrificed to oil in Jordan?
November 13, 2011
by Macdonald Stainsby
AMMAN, Jordan--In March of 2011, The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan jumped headlong into unconventional oil extraction, and signed a deal with Karak International Oil (KIO), a subsidiary of Jordan Energy and Mining Limited (JEML--a British company) for the commercial mining of oil shale approximately one hour’s drive from the capital of Amman. Unlike most countries in the region, if you fill up your gas tank in Jordan, you are using imported oil— but the Kingdom is touting a future when extreme extraction will change that, and soon.
Apartheid Oil
Crude trapped in shale could transform Israel into energy powerhouse
November 10, 2011
by Macdonald Stainsby
JERUSALEM-- Major offshore gas strikes in 2009 and 2010 may soon convert converted Israel into a gas exporting country with self-sufficient energy. But perhaps more important than the gas under the sea is the mock crude trapped in husk dry sands and rock hard shale, reserves which could push Israel into the upper echelons of recoverable oil on the planet. Israel has long had a weakness economically and militarily because of their reliance on others for energy supplies.
Could Israel be another Middle East oil giant?
30 September 2011
By Daniel Estrin BBC co-production The World
Prospectors in Israel say hundreds of feet below the ground lies shale rock that can be converted into billions of barrels of oil. But environmentalists say it's a disaster waiting to happen.
"This is the distinct smell I'm talking about when I talk about oil shale."
Oppenheimer: America's tar sands and shale will be world's oil source
By Andres Oppenheimer
JournalStar.com
Thursday, September 29, 2011
The turmoil for reform sweeping most Middle Eastern oil producers is grabbing big headlines today, but that region may lose some of its economic clout in the future: There are signs that the Americas will replace the Middle East as the world's biggest oil-producing region.
Canadian crude under attack on two fronts
By Bill Mann, MarketWatch
September 29, 2011
VANCOUVER, B.C. (MarketWatch) — With the rancorous Keystone-XL pipeline debate currently raging across the United States and Canada, it seems we’re at a tipping point: Will Canada’s oil sands be seen as an “ethical” source of oil, or a polluting pariah?
