What are oil sands, and what are they made of?
Q: What are oil sands, and what are they made of?
A: Oil sands are an unconventional source of petroleum made up of a mixture of sand, clay, water, and a dense and extremely sticky form of petroleum known as bitumen.
Q: Where can natural bitumen be found, and which countries have the largest quantities?
A: Natural bitumen can be found in many countries around the world, but the largest quantities are located in Canada, Kazakhstan, and Russia.
Q: How many worldwide deposits of oil sands are estimated, and do these estimates include undiscovered deposits?
A: There are estimated to be more than 2 trillion barrels (320 billion cubic metres) of oil sands worldwide, and these estimates do include deposits that have not yet been discovered.
Q: What percentage of all proven reserves of oil sands are located in Canada?
A: Around 70% of all proven reserves of oil sands are located in Canada.
Q: Why is oil produced from bitumen sands often referred to as unconventional oil, and how does its production process compare to that of traditional liquid oil?
A: Oil produced from bitumen sands is often referred to as unconventional oil because it comes from a source that is different from traditional liquid oil. Its production process is much more energy-consuming compared to traditional oil, resulting in a smaller net energy gain.
Q: How does the production of liquid fuels from oil sands compare to the production of traditional oil in terms of greenhouse gas emissions?
A: The production of liquid fuels from oil sands requires much more energy and produces 12 percent more greenhouse gases per barrel of final product than the production of traditional oil.
Q: Why have oil sands only recently been considered to be part of the world's oil reserves?
A: Oil sands have only recently been considered to be part of the world's oil reserves because their extraction and processing were not profitable at lower oil prices. However, the recent rise in oil prices has made oil sands extraction and processing more profitable.
