Bituminous sands of Athabasca

The bituminous sands of Athabasca are most important of the three bitumen deposits of the Alberta, Canada (the two others are in the areas of the river of Peace, in the west, and of the lake Cold, in south-east). Together, these three bituminous sand layers cover approximately 141 000 km ² of northern forest, peaty and wetlands little populated, are approximately 21% of the territory of Alberta. Bituminous sands of Athabasca hold their name of the Rivière Athabasca which passes in the middle of the area, and one easily observes heavy oil traces on his banks. In the past, the bitumen was used by the Cris and the Dene of the area to waterproof their canoes. The bitumen deposits are within the limits of the Traité No 8 and several communities autochtones are there.

Because its thickness, the deposit of Athabasca is the only one of the three layers in Alberta which can be exploited with open sky in an economic way. Approximately 10% of sands impregnated with asphaltic bitumen of Athabasca are covered with less than 75 meters of movable deposits. The definite exploitable zone as such by the government of Alberta covers 37 contiguous zones (approximately 3400 square kilometers or 1300 miles square) in the north of the town of Fort McMurray. A thin layer of toubières and wetlands, a thickness of one to three meters, rest on a layer of clay and of sterile sand of which the thickness can reach 75 meters. Bituminous sands, which form a sub-base a thickness from 40 to 60 meters, rest on a flat calcareous bottom. The first bituminous sand mine in the world was created by the Great Canadian Oil Sands (today Suncor) since 1967 in a zone where bituminous sands were very close to surface. The mine of Syncrude, largest of the world, followed in 1978 and undermines it Sands Gaults (starting by Shell Canada) in 2003. These three mines are associated with bitumen refineries which convert the unusable bitumen into Crude oil of synthesis which is then sent to the refineries of Canada and the United States.

Sands of Athabasca are mainly located inside and around the town of Strong McMurray which was, until the end of the Fifties, a small community of a few hundreds of inhabitants whose richness rested on the draft of furs and the salt extraction. After the Oil crisis of the Seventies, Fort McMurray knew a rapid and considerable demograhic growth. Since 2000, the few 80000 inhabitants, of which good number come from the east from Canada, have difficulty in answer the request for new residences for migrant worker.

Estimate of the crude oil reserves

The government of Alberta calculated that approximately 28 billion cubic meters (178 billion barrels) of rough bitumen is economically extractable of the three bituminous sand fields of Alberta and this by using the techniques currently available to the current price of the crude barrel. What corresponds to approximately 10% of the 1700 and 2500 billion hidden bitumen barrels. Alberta estimates that the deposits of Athabasca alone contain 5,6 billion cubic meters (35 billion barrel) of bituminous ore on the surface and 15,6 billion cubic meters (98 billion barrels) of bitumen extractable by methods In-situ. These estimates of the Oil reserves of Canada brought some astonishments at the time of their first publication but are now largely accepted by the international community. Such volumes bring Canada to the second world rank of the oil reserves proven just behind the Saudi Arabia.

The method of calculating of the reserves economically accessible, which produced these estimates, was used because the conventional methods of calculation of reserves gave results deprived of direction. They revealed that Alberta was going to arrive at oil court whereas the rapids increases in production of sands impregnated with asphaltic bitumen made more than to compensate for the decline of production of conventional oils: indeed the major part of the oils extracted in Alberta is now. The conventional estimates of oil reserves are neither more nor less calculations of geological risk of drilling, however with sands impregnated with asphaltic bitumen there are only very few geological risks because sands go back to surface and are very easy to find. The only financial risk is that of a fall of the courses of oil and with all these fears evaporated.

The estimates of Alberta are to some extent extremely conservative, owing to the fact that they are based on a rate of recovery of 20% of the bitumen resources, whereas the oil companies affirm that with the use of the method of extraction by a recovery of more than 60% is realizable with weak efforts. These high rates of recovery mean that the total production will be probably several times higher than the already important estimate of the government.

With the current production rates, the sand impregnated with asphaltic bitumen reserves of Athabasca will last more than 400 years. In all the cases it is very improbable that they remain on this level because of the current world requirements out of oil. With the assumption that Alberta quadruples its production of oil, while exporting major the part in the United States, the field would hold more than 100 years. If the production increases same manner as in Saudi Arabia (10 million barrels per day), the life of the field would be seen some reduced at 40 years. However it is extremely improbable that the production is increased at this point without a large contribution of immigrant labor in Alberta of North. Even if Alberta is probably an important supplier of the worldwide market of the oil of the next century, it does not intend to supplant the the Middle East as a principal supplier of America, Europe and Asia.

Economy

In spite of the important size of the reserves, the cost of the separation of sand and oil were always regarded as a brake with the development of such projects - the selling price of the crude not covering the expenses of extraction (work of extraction and separation of sand and oil). With semi-2006, the National office of Energy in Canada (NEB) estimated that the cost of a new mining operation on the site of sands impregnated with asphaltic bitumen of Athabasca would be understood between 9 and 12$ the barrel and that an operation of extraction by double horizontal wells would lie between 10 and 14$ the barrel. It should be known that a terrestrial conventional oil drilling can vary from less than 1$ in Iraq and in Saudi Arabia until a little more than 6$ with the the United States and the Canada.

Moreover, the capital cost for the equipment (like the large machines used for the extraction, the filling of trucks for transport to the refinery) made investment pre-production an main issue. The NEB estimates that these costs would make assemble the total costs of production to 18 or 20$ per barrel by traditional extraction and to 18 or 22$ per barrel with the extraction by double wells. And this does not include the cost of the refining of the rough oil bitumen refined gross, which would return at a cost from 36 to 40$ the barrel in conventional production.

However, in spite of the fact that the oil price remains enough high to return the company attracting, of sudden falls of the prices the producers in the incapacity would leave to cover their investments (even if these companies are well managed and can recover from long periods at low prices since the investment passed and that they can cover their expenses of production).

In addition, the development of the commercial production is facilitated by the fact that the costs of exploration are virtually null. Such costs have very significant parts in the financings of drillings on the traditional oil fields. The position of the oil deposits in sand impregnated with asphaltic bitumen is well-known and an estimate of the rate of recovery can be made easily. Moreover, bituminous sands are located in a politically stable zone and the companies are sure that will not be confiscated them by the government or setting in plays in a war or a revolution.

Thanks to, finances of sands impregnated with asphaltic bitumen largely improved. With a world tariff of 50$ the barrel, the NEB estimates that a traditional mining extraction will have a rate of return on investment from 16 to 23% and that an operation by drilling out of double wells from 16 to 27%. The prices with the barrel in 2006 have summers more raised much than that. What gives an amount of investment in sands impregnated with asphaltic bitumen for 2006-2015 about 100 billion dollars what corresponds to the double of the amount initially envisaged in 2004. However because of a large shortage of manpower in Alberta, it is not very probable that all these projects are carried out.

Production of bituminous sands

Bituminous sands of Athabasca drew the attention of the merchants of Européens fur in 1719 when Wa-Pa-known, a tradesman Cris, brought a bituminous sand sample to the room of the Compagnie of Hudson Bay to Churchill (Manitoba). In 1778, the merchant of fur Peter Pond became the first white man to observe these deposits along the river of Athabasca and reported that the natives used the bitumen to waterproof their canoes. In 1883, C Hoffman of the geological Commission of Canada tried to separate the bitumen from bituminous sands with water, and reported that separation was immediate. However, a century had to be waited almost before the extraction does not become economically viable.

The commercial production of oil starting from bituminous sand Athabasca started in 1967, when Great Canadian oil Sands (now Suncor) opened its first mine, with a production of 30.000 barrels with synthetic day of oil gross. The development was prevented by the fall of the oil prices in the world, and the second mine, starting by the consortium Syncrude, did not start to function before 1978, after the Oil crisis of 1973 reduced the interest of the investors. However, the oil price dropped later, and although the oil crisis of 1979 caused a new blaze of the prices, the presentation of the national energy Programme by Pierre Trudeau encouraged the oil companies and the government of Alberta directed by Peter Lougheed to invest itself in the new developments. Once again, the prices fell on very low levels, causing many retirements of this die, and the third mine, startup by Shell Canada, started to function only in 2003. Nevertheless, with the rise of the oil prices between 2004 and 2006, the existing mines increased much and of news are in project.

According to and the equipment Energy Council of Alberta, the production of rough bitumen was the following one:

. The total production of oil in the three bituminous sand zones of Alberta was of 169 100 m ³ /jour is 1 065 000 barrels per day.

With the new projects envisaged; from here 2010 the production of bituminous sands should reach 2 million barrels per day or around two thirds of the Canadian production. From here 2015 the Canadian production should reach 4 million barrels per day, among which only 15% will be conventional crude oil. The Canadian Association of the Oil Producers predicts that from here 2020 the Canadian production of oil will reach 4,8 million barrels per day, among which only 10% will be light and average conventional oil, and most of the remainder will be rough bitumen and synthetic oil gross coming from bituminous sands of Athabasca.

Extraction of oil

See the principal article: Extraction of bituminous sands

The original process of extraction used on bituminous sands was developed by Dr. Karl Clark, in collaboration with the Council of search for Alberta in the Twenties. Historically (since the Sixties), bituminous sands are collected in enormous wells with open sky and extracts of sand thanks to alternatives of the process of Clark based on the water, which separates the ventilated bitumen from the other components of bituminous sand in vats of sedimentation. More recently, of new methods in situ was developed to extract the bitumen from the deep deposits by injecting vapor to heat sand and to reduce the viscosity of the bitumen so that it can be pumped like conventional crude oil.

The standard process of extraction requires also great contributions out of natural gas. Currently, the industry of bituminous sands uses about 4% of Bassin the sedimentary production of the Canadian west. From here 2015, that should increase by a factor 2,5.

According to the National council for Energy, one needs approximately 0,4 natural gas Mcf to produce a synthetic barrel of petrol gross, which is equivalent in terms of energy to 6 gas Mcf, therefore the process produces a Net profit of energy. In any event, it is probable that short-term natural gas exports towards the United States will be reduced to provide fuel to the bituminous sand power stations. In the long run, however, the oil refineries probably will reconvert into the Gazéification bitumen to generate their characteristic carburizing. Same manner that the bitumen can be converted into synthetic oil gross, it can also be converted into synthetic natural gas.

On a commercial plan, in situ extraction hardly begins. An almost succeeded project, the Project Long Lake, is conceived to provide its characteristic carburizing, thanks to. This project is supposed to begin with the extraction from the bitumen in 2006, and " the amélioration" liquid oil bitumen in 2007, with a 60000 bpl/day production of oil usable. If that functions, the problem of natural gas would not enter even any more in account and the problem to have a reserve disappears.

Geopolitical importance

Bituminous sands of Athabsca are now proposed in the international business, with the China and the the United States which try both to negotiate with Canada a larger share of the production in full rise of bituminous sands. One expects that this production quadruples between 2005 and 2015, reaching 4 bbl million/day, increasing their political and economic importance at the same time. Although the major part of the production is currently exported towards the United States, that could change.

An agreement was signed between PétroChina and Enbridge to build a pipeline between Edmonton, in the Alberta and the port of Kitimat, in Colombia-British on the west coast, being able to convey the equivalent of 400000 barrels per day, with an aim of exporting the synthetic crude oil of bituminous sands in China and elsewhere in the Pacific. Another pipeline of a capacity of 150000 barrels per day is envisaged in more in the other direction to import condensed being used to dilute the bitumen so that it runs out. Sinopec, the largest company of refining and chemistry in China, and the China National Petroleum Corporation bought or envisaged to buy shares in the principal developments of bituminous sands.

Not to be exceeded, the India announced capital spending programs of a billion dollar in bituminous sands in 2006. Not less than four Indian companies are concerned.

Native-born people of the area

The First Nations of the area live in particular in Fort McKay and Fort McMurray. Sands impregnated with asphaltic bitumen are included in, signed in 1899. The Amerindians of Strong McKay developed several companies with the services of the industry of sands impregnated with asphaltic bitumen and will develop a site on their territory. The development of such projects, however, does not achieve the unanimity in the Amerindian communities.

Environmental impacts

The area one of is polluted country, with a rate of high Cancer.

The mining extraction of bituminous sands of Athabasca destroys the northern forest

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