Development
The major light and medium crude oil producing fields are Pembina near Drayton Valley, Swan
Hills-Judy Creek, Rainbow Lake-Zama, Redwater, Provost, Red Earth-Utikuma and
Leduc-Woodbend. Major heavy crude oil producing fields are Lloydminster-Wainwright, Provost-Hayter, and Taber-Suffield-Medicine Hat.
With current oil
production slightly exceeding new additions to known reserves, Alberta's
remaining established conventional oil reserves totaled 342 million cubic
metres at the end of 1996, excluding pentanes plus and condensate.
Production continues to outpace additions
to reserves and it might appear that Alberta could run out of conventional oil
in a few decades. Every year, however,
exploratory and development drilling and improvements to oil recovery techniques add more oil to the known reserves, which extends the time that
conventional oil reserves will last. In addition, oil sands production continues
to assume greater importance as production of conventional oil decreases.
Department of the Environment. State of the Environment Report, Terrestrial Ecosystems. Edmonton: n.p., 2001. With permission from Alberta Environment.
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