The Enduring Challenge of Alberta's Oilsands
The discovery in present-day Alberta of deposits of sand saturated with
bitumen (the petroleum that exists in the semisolid or solid phase in
natural deposits) was recorded as early as 1778 by American fur trader and
explorer Peter Pond in the Athabasca area.
Of course, this was a "discovery" only in terms of
Western society, as Aboriginal peoples in the area, such as the Cree,
traditionally used the bitumen tar for several purposesthey burned the
tar in pots to repel bugs and insects, used it to waterproof their canoes
and they even used it as chewing gum! (Kids, dont try that at home).
The potential worth of the resource (the deposits in Northern Alberta
constitute the largest known repository of bituminous oil on earth) was
recognized as early as 1893 by surveyors enlisted by the Dominion
government. Since that time, industry and provincial and federal
governments have pursued the development of the oilsands, and currently in
Alberta, it is a major centre of crude-oil production.
Two themes animate the challenge of the oilsands in
Albertathe influence of liquid oil and the difficulty of extracting
semisolid or solid forms of oil from the sand. Liquid oil is what early
scientists and petro-explorers hoped to find. Dreams of striking it rich
with liquid oil brought many West, and even in recent history we find
tales of investors arriving in the area with suitcases of cash to finance
the pursuit. However, no liquid oil has ever been found in the Athabasca
oilsands area.
Consequently, innovation has been necessary to breathe
life into the vision of extracting oil out of the sand. With the famous
oil strike of
Leduc No. 1
in 1947, the focus of development shifted away
from the oilsands, and with good reasonliquid oil is far easier to access
and refine. The lull in oilsands extraction didnt last long, however, as
petro-innovators knew the day would come when extracting oil from the sand
would be feasible. That day has certainly arrived, and a huge expansion of
the oilsands industry in Alberta is well underway.
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