What is Oil Sands?
Albertas oil reserves play an important role in the Canadian and global economy, supplying stable, reliable energy to the world. Alberta’s oil sands have been described by Time Magazine as “Canada’s greatest buried energy treasure.” But what is oil sand exactly? Oil sand is a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay or other minerals, water and bitumen, which is a heavy and extremely viscous oil that must be treated before it can be used by refineries to produce usable fuels such as gasoline and diesel. Bitumen is so viscous that at room temperature it acts much like cold molasses. A variety of treatment methods are currently available to oil sands producers and new methods are put into practice as more research is completed and new technology is developed. Oil sand can be found in several locations around the globe, including Venezuela, the United States and Russia, but the Athabasca deposit in Alberta is the largest, most developed and utilizes the most technologically advanced prod
