Oil Sands Profitability and Production
It is estimated by many experts that Canada’s ranks second in terms of world oil reserves behind only to Saudi Arabia. The majority of these resources are found in the oil sands of Alberta.
In Focus: Nexen’s Oil Sands Upgrading Process
Alberta has about 178 billion barrels of proven oil reserves (crude bitumen – 174 billion bbl, 1.6 billion for crude oil). Alberta’s oil sands are an affordable source of crude oil in abundant quantities, one of the few deposits in the world with growing production.
Thousands of oil sands lease agreements are currently in place with the province, totaling 43,000 square kilometers, leaving close to 70% of oil sands areas available for exploration and leasing.
By 2015, if continuously extracted, oil sands production is expected to reach three million bbl/d. It would take nearly 400 years to deplete the reserves at existing oil sands operations.