Oil Sands
Mining
About 20 per cent of Alberta’s economically recoverable oil sands bitumen reserves are close enough to the surface to make mining feasible.
Upgrading
Upgrading is the process that converts bitumen into a product with a density and viscosity similar to conventional light crude oil. This is done by using heat to ‘crack’ the big molecules into smaller fragments. All operating mines have intergrated upgraders and 100 per cent of minable production is upgraded in Alberta.
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