Energy and how it is captured and consumed is barely viable in tar sands production. While the amount of oil in places such as the tar sands in Alberta or the Orinoco Belt in Venezuela may have deposits of similar size to the reserves of countries such as Saudi Arabia or Iraq, the return of new energy after expending energy in production is not even close. In Iraq, the process of using one barrel of oil generates 100 new barrels. In the tar sands, estimates of 3 to 1 and even as low as 1.5 to 1 have been made. Offsetting the net energy loss would require minimally 25-30 tar sands facilities for one Saudi plant operating at the same capacity.
Reliance on Oil Sands Grows Despite Environmental Risks
Jim Wilson/The New York Times
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS and ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
Published: May 18, 2010
There is no chance of a rig blowout here, or a deepwater oil spill like the one from the BP well that is now fouling the Gulf of Mexico. But the oil extracted from Canada’s oil sands poses other environmental challenges, like toxic sludge ponds, greenhouse gas emissions and the destruction of boreal forests.
The Gulf oil spill in context: US oil consumption
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
May 31, 2010
[graphs and charts at link at bottom of this article]
Aging Chevron oil refinery must clean up or shut down
By Peter Cech, The Province June 1, 2010
I am appalled that oil leaks are still happening in Burrard Inlet in the heart of the Lower Mainland.
There's a long string of "events" related to Chevron's operations in North Burnaby. "Unplanned discharges" of particulate and toxic fumes in the air we breathe are an annual event.
We've even been subjected to leaks of methyl tertiary butyl ether. This goes beyond the "nuisance odours" we've been subjected to for decades.
Alberta’s Tar Sands and Idaho’s Wilderness Gateway
Unfiltered By Nick Gier, Unfiltered 5-31-10
In April of 2008, over 1,000 ducks flying over Northern Alberta took a break from their migration north and landed in what they perceived was just another lake in the area. They never took flight again, along with other 10,000 other waterfowl that year. The water in many of these lakes has been tarred and poisoned by bitumen processing.
Athabasca Oil Sands, Greystar, Nexen: Canadian Equity Preview
May 31, 2010, 8:27 AM EDT
By Matt Walcoff
May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Shares of the following companies may have unusual moves in Canadian trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses.
Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. (ATH CT): PetroChina Co.’s partner in Canadian oil sands development received an “outperform” rating in new coverage from Justin Bouchard of Raymond James Financial Inc. The company “represents one of the most attractive acquisition candidates in the oil sands space,” the analyst wrote in a report.
New pipeline won't sate Asian oil demand -Enbridge
Mon May 31, 2010 5:08pm EDT
CALGARY Alberta, May 31 (Reuters) - The planned C$5.5 billion ($5.3 billion) Northern Gateway pipeline will not be big enough to satisfy demand for Canadian oil sands crude from Pacific Rim nations, Enbridge Inc (ENB.TO), the line's backer, said in regulatory filings.
“Joint” agreements: The Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement.. just plain bizarre
May 31st, 2010 by salmon guy
I’ve been reading through the leaked version of the recently announced Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement – the touted historic agreement signifying a new era of Joint Leadership in the Boreal Forest.
First Nations and Tar Sands Industry Clash in the Courts and the Hague
Chinese firm buys $435-million stake in Penn West to form oilsands joint-venture
Thu May 13 2010
Lauren Krugel
The Canadian Press
CALGARY — China is making yet another push into Alberta’s oilsands, taking on a five per cent stake in Penn West Energy Trust and inking a joint-venture to develop some of the Canadian oil heavyweight’s land.
Kinder slows Canadian plans
Calgary Herald
May 26, 2010
Pipelines - Kinder Morgan Energy Partners has slowed multibillion-dollar plans to add oil pipeline capacity to Canada's West Coast due to a lack of demand, but still believes its proposal is the oilsands industry's best option, its president said Tuesday.
Kinder Morgan and Enbridge Inc. have both floated projects to move crude from Alberta's oilsands to the Pacific Coast, where it could be shipped by tanker to Asia.
