How dependent is the world, in particular America, on the Canadian oil sands?
Canadian crude is viewed on an equal footing as American crude, from a security of supply perspective. So one of the benefits of that is because you are bringing in, let’s say, 1.5 million barrels a day of Canadian crude, that means that you do not need to offset that in your strategic petroleum reserve because it is a reliable source. Canadian crude is a benefit to the US economy, especially as it increases over time, primarily driven by the oil sands. We have to keep in mind, America is the largest consumer of crude oil and Canada’s exports to the country, quite frankly, are just a drop in the bucket. Q: The oil sands are the second largest crude reserves outside Saudi Arabia, with 173 billion barrels of reserves. How much is this expected to grow by in the next few years? A: Right now, about 80% of those reserves will be produced by in-situ techniques. Basically it is quite similar to what you would see traditionally. There is not a lot of land disturbance, and you are primarily pum
