Will Canadian Oil Sands Save Us?
Posted by Max Dunn Fri, 07 Mar 2008 04:04:00 GMT
There is a lot of oil in Canadian oil sands. So it is easy to believe that even when OPEC’s production starts to fall, Canadian oil sands can make up the difference. However, the problem is not the amount of oil – the problem is separating the oil from the sand which is a slow and resource intensive process.
According to the Master’s thesis of Bengt Söderbergh [1], natural gas availability is likely to limit oil sands production in the long term to about 3.6 million barrels per day (mbd).
David Hughes, a geologist with Natural Resources Canada, believes that the peak will never exceed 2.5 mbd due to natural gas, water, diluent and infrastructure constraints. [2]
For comparison, the U.S. uses 22 mbd and worldwide demand is 86 mbd. So it is unlikely the Canadian oil sands will be able to ever provide a significant amount of the world’s oil.
References:
[1] Canada’s Oil Sands Resources and Its Future Impact on Global Oil Supply (Page 93, Fig 15.10)
[2] Unconventional Oil -Canada’s Oil Sands and Their Role in the Global Context: Panacea or Pipe Dream? (Summary, Page 25)
From:
No matter how tedious the process is, oil is oil is oil. And oil is vital for all of us so there. Canada just might save us all.