Oil
Sands Backgrounder
Bitumen
Oil sand is basically oil mixed with sand. This oil,
called bitumen, is thick and heavy and cannot be
extracted by conventional
means of oil wells. Oil sand is often referred to as “tar
sand,” but this is an incorrect term. Tar is a man-made
substance.
Oil Sands
Oil is separated from oil sands by two different methods
depending on the location of the ore and transported
south by pipeline.
Both types of plants require a skilled workforce.
The two types of plants are:
- Open-pit
or surface mines
- In-situ
oil sands plants using SAGD
Open-pit mines using truck and shovel technology
are developed on leases where Oil sands is
near the surface.
The mines and
associated extraction and upgrading facilities
require a skilled workforce for operations
and maintenance.
In-situ (meaning in its original position)
oil sands plants are developed in areas
where the Oil sands
deposits are too
deep to be mined from an open-pit. SAGD
(Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage) technology,
pronounced "sag
dee," is
currently one of the methods used in the Regional
Municipality of Wood
Buffalo to separate bitumen from the sand underground
or in-situ. Parallel horizontal well pairs are drilled.
Steam
is injected
into the upper well to warm and soften the oil sands
layer. The warmed bitumen and water drain downward,
passing through
fine slots in the lower well and is pumped to the
surface, leaving the sand behind. The water is recycled
and
the bitumen shipped or upgraded to produce a marketable
petroleum product.
Visit the Oil
Sands Discovery Centre website for
information on other kinds of in-situ technology.
Athabasca Oil Sands deposit
The Athabasca deposit directly around Fort McMurray
is the only deposit shallow enough to be surface
mined in
open-pit
mines. Syncrude
Canada, Suncor
Energy, and Albian
Sands are the three companies currently mining
north
of Fort McMurray.
About 80 per cent of the oil sands around Fort McMurray
are too deep in the ground (more than 250 feet) to
be recovered
by surface mining, so in-situ processes are used.
Further
information
For
more information on the Athabasca Oil
Sands or about getting a job working
in the oil sands, view the December
2006 Labour
Market News (Employment
in the Oil Sands). |
