How are oil sands and heavy oil found?
Shallow oil sands are identified by thick, viscous oil seeping from the ground. In fact, oil from seeps along the Athabasca River has been used by aboriginal peoples for many generations to caulk the seams of their canoes, and may have been used to dress wounds and waterproof garments.
Deeper deposits are often identified using Automated 2-D Electrical Imaging, a geophysical technique that plots electrical conductivity variations in the earth. Geoelectrical sections can generally be interpreted as geological cross sections. Because oil sands are highly resistive, the technique can be cost-effectively used for the exploration and delineation of these resources.
Where are oil sands and heavy oil found?
Geographically, oil sands and heavy oil are found throughout the world with the greatest potential resources identified in Canada, Venezuela and the former Soviet Union. Globally, oil sands are estimated to contain approximately 20 trillion barrels of oil; however the true resource base could be much larger because heavy oil resources have not historically been documented unless they are economically viable in current market conditions.
In Canada, heavy oil deposits straddle the Alberta/Saskatchewan border in the region surrounding the city of Lloydminster.
Oil sands are found in three places in Canada - the Athabasca area of Alberta and western Saskatchewan, the Peace River area of Alberta, and the Cold Lake region of Alberta - and cover a total of about 140,200 square kilometres. The “Carbonate Triangle” region of Alberta also contains significant bitumen reserves, but typically these reserves are deeply buried and until recently, were thought to be uneconomical to develop.
The Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board estimates the oil sands initial volume in place was about 1.7 trillion barrels and the initial established reserves were 179 billion barrels. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers estimates the remaining established reserves of crude bitumen to be approximately 173 billion barrels, as of December 31, 2007, of which about 13.6 billion barrels are within areas of active development.
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