Tidal Current Energy

Chapter 4
The Alberta Oil Sands: Reserves
and Supply Outlook
F.
1
Rahnama , K. Elliott , R. A. Marsh and L. Philp
Energy Resources Conservation Board, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Summary: Alberta, one of Canada’s 10 provinces, has crude bitumen reserves,
also known as oil sands, that are contained in some of the world’s largest deposits
of extra heavy crude oil. The established reserves of Alberta crude bitumen
have been compared to the reserves of Saudi Arabia in size.
Alberta has been the scene of large investments in its oil sands industry in the
past decade. Crude bitumen production in Alberta has more than doubled in
this time and is expected to reach over 3 million barrels a day over the next decade
as the pace of oil sands development accelerates.
This chapter presents a detailed analysis of potential production from this
vast resource, with consideration of reserves, markets and the economic viability
of crude bitumen production within Alberta.
1 . Introduction
As discoveries of conventional sources of hydrocarbons are becoming less frequent
and existing reserves are being produced at an ever increasing rate,
unconventional oil reserves are becoming more important to the global oil market.
Furthermore, declines in the reserves of lighter crude oil have reduced the
average quality of global conventional crude oil. Changes to the average viscosity
of today’s global crude oil is influencing refineries to adapt to heavier
crudes, creating an environment that ensures a market for larger amounts of
heavy and extra heavy crude oil. In North America a number of refineries have
retooled, or are in the process of retooling, in order to take heavier crude oil as
1 The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and may not reflect the views of the ERCB.
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