Athabasca Tar Sands (Alberta, Canada) Oil Extraction Case Study

Question 1

Background facts and context

Answer 1

• Underlies 140,000km^2 of pristine boreal forest. Currently only exploit 900km^2.
• 20% of oil sands lie near surface where they can be open-pit strip mined.
• Sands estimated to contain 175 billion barrels of recoverable crude bitumen.
• 2.5 million barrels produced/day.
• 5 barrels of water needed for 1 barrel of bitumen.

Question 2

Physical geography and impact on cost/availability of the oil.

Answer 2

• 80% of oil sands 75m below ground, and can only be extracted using thermal ‘in-situ’ methods.
• Alberta tar sands largest oil reserve on the planet.
• $19 a barrel compared to drilled Saudi Arabian oil ($10 a barrel).

Question 3

Socio-economic impacts.

Answer 3

• Provides jobs for people in the local area.
• Provides secure energy source.
• Materials initially deconstructed can be used to reconstruct infrastructure.
• Investment from countries such as the UK, US, Japan, Norway, France, South Korea.

Question 4

Environmental Impacts

Answer 4

• Mining methods are killing species.
• Cancer rates are 10x higher than the rest of Canada.
• Pristine forests cleared for mining.
• Bitumen has to go through extensive process to make it crude oil - very energy and water intensive.
• Water used dumped into ‘tailing ponds’, contain 720 billion litres of tailing.
• Toxic tailings are leaching into groundwater supply, polluting the nearby Athabasca River.
• Alberta Energy Regulator put clean up cost at $130 billion.
• Large amounts of GHGs from in-situ mining and heavy machinery.