I've always loved Canada

[scamper]

Oil Sands


Second only to the Saudi Arabia reserves, Alberta's oil sands deposits were described by Time Magazine as "Canada's greatest buried energy treasure," and "could satisfy the world's demand for petroleum for the next century."
Oil Sands are deposits of bitumen, a molasses-like viscous oil that will not flow unless heated or diluted with lighter hydrocarbons. They are contained in three major areas beneath 140,800 square kilometres of north-eastern Alberta - an area larger than the state of Florida, an area twice the size of New Brunswick, more than four and half times the size of Vancouver Island, and 26 times larger than Prince Edward Island. However, only about two per cent of the initial established resource has been produced to date.

Alberta Energy encourages the responsible development of these extensive deposits through planning and liaison with government, industry and communities to ensure a competitive royalty regime that is attractive to investors, appropriate regulations and environmental protection and the management of Crown rights to oil sands while taking into account some of the barriers - higher technological risk and higher capital costs - faced by oil sands developers.

Alberta's oil sands industry is the result of multi-billion-dollar investments in infrastructure and technology required to develop the non-conventional resource. In the last five years alone, industry has allocated $24.7 billion towards oil sands development.

In 2003 Alberta's oil sands were the source of about 52.7 per cent of the province's total crude oil and equivalent production and about 34.8 per cent of all crude oil and equivalent produced in Canada. Over the last three fiscal years, from 2001/2002 to 2003/2004, oil sands development returned $565 million to Albertans in the form of royalties paid to the provincial government.

Annual oil sands production is growing steadily as the industry matures. Output of marketable oil sands production increased to 858,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2003, up from 741,000 bbl/d the year before. It is anticipated that in 2005, Alberta's oil sands production may account for one-half of Canada's total crude output and 10 per cent of North American production. It is also predicted that the oil sands will create a total of 102,000 new jobs across Canada by 2012.

Development of Alberta's oil sands resources represents a triumph of technological innovation. Over the years, government and industry have worked together to find innovative and economic ways to extract and process the oil sands and energy research is more important today than ever before. Working through the Alberta Energy Research Institute, the Alberta government is committed to a collaborative approach to spur new technology and innovation programs that will reduce the impact of greenhouse gases and other emissions, and reduce the consumption of water and gas.

http://www.energy.gov.ab.ca/89.asp

[FORD]

Prayers for our Canadian neighbors today, as they try to resist a PNAC takeover masquerading as an election :(

[bueno bob]

Originally posted by FORD
Prayers for our Canadian neighbors today, as they try to resist a PNAC takeover masquerading as an election :(

lmao...no shit...

[Full Bug]

Originally posted by FORD
Prayers for our Canadian neighbors today, as they try to resist a PNAC takeover masquerading as an election :(
Dont pray for me, I hope the Conservatives win, you want to talk about a corrupt government, the Liberals are it hands down.....I see Ford has been conned by all the 'The Conservatives in gonna make us the next US state' nonsense that has been played up in the Liberal supporting media here, glad to see from the polls here most Canadians dont buy into that garbage....

[m_dixon1984]

Canada will always be to the far left, politically, when compared to the US. Our "conservatives" are more liberal than US Democrats. We have a chance to eliminate a government that has been too corrupt for too long. The Conservatives derserve a chance to do some cleaning up economically and with a minority government will be held in check when it comes to social issues. Harper has run his compaign solely on internal issues and, in fact, when questioned about foreign policy he admits being almost ignorant on most issues. This guy has only Canadian matters on his mind and isn't likely to have any hidden agenda when it comes to dealing with the US. We're heading into a very interesting political period and I for one am excited to see it being led by someone with a fresh perspective.
M

[Full Bug]

Good post Dixon....

[Nickdfresh]

The Oil Sands Of Alberta
http://www.cbsnews.com/images/2006/01/20/image1224566g.jpg
Jan. 22, 2005(CBS) There’s an oil boom going on right now. Not in Saudi Arabia or Kuwait or any of those places, but 600 miles north of Montana.

In Alberta, Canada, in a town called Fort McMurray where, this time of year, the temperature sometimes zooms up to zero.

The oilmen up there aren’t digging holes in the sand and hoping for a spout. They’re digging up dirt — dirt that is saturated with oil. They’re called oil sands, and if you’ve never heard of them then you’re in for a big surprise because the reserves are so vast in the province of Alberta that they will help solve America’s energy needs for the next century.

Within a few years, the oil sands are likely to become more important to the United States than all the oil that comes to us from Saudi Arabia.

Correspondent Bob Simon reports.


Twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, vehicles that look like prehistoric beasts move across an arctic wasteland, extracting the oil sands. There is so much to scoop, so much money to be made.

There are 175 billion barrels of proven oil reserves here. That’s second to Saudi Arabia’s 260 billion but it’s only what companies can get with today’s technology. The estimate of how many more barrels of oil are buried deeper underground is staggering.

"We know there’s much, much more there. The total estimates could be two trillion or even higher," says Clive Mather, Shell's Canada chief. "This is a very, very big resource."

Very big? That’s eight times the amount of reserves in Saudi Arabia. The oil sands are buried under forests in Alberta that are the size of Florida. The oil here doesn’t come gushing out of the sand the way it does in the Middle East. The oil is in the sand. It has to be dug up and processed.

Rick George, the Colorado-born CEO of Suncor Energy, took 60 Minutes into his strip mine for a tour. He says the mine will be in operation for about 25 years.

The oil sands look like a very rich, pliable kind of topsoil. Why doesn’t oil come out when squeezed?

"Well, because it’s not warm enough. If you add this to hot water you’ll start the separation process and you’ll see the oil come to the top of the water and you’ll see sand drop to the bottom," George says.

It may look like topsoil but all it grows is money.

It didn’t always. The oil sands have been in the ground for millions of years, but for decades, prospectors lost millions of dollars trying to squeeze the oil out of the sand. It simply cost too much.

T. Boone Pickens, a legendary Texas oil tycoon, was working Alberta’s traditional oil rigs back in the '60s and remembers how he and his colleagues thought mining for oil sands was a joke.

"Here we are sitting there having a drink after work and somebody said this isn’t going to, it isn’t possible. It’ll all have to be subsidized to a level, said, before they’d make money you’d have to have $5 oil," Pickens says laughing. "We never thought it would happen."

But then $40 a barrel happened and the oil sands not only made sense, they made billions for the people digging them. But it wasn’t just the price of oil that changed the landscape, it was the toys. That’s what they call the giant trucks and shovels that roam the mines.

Everything about the oil industry has always been big. It’s characterized by bigness, from the pumps to the personalities. But up here in Alberta, it’s frankly ridiculous. The mine operates the world's biggest truck. It’s three stories high and costs $5 million. It carries a load of 400 tons of oil sands, which means, at today’s oil prices, each load is worth $10,000 dollars.

What it’s like to drive one of these monsters? At the foot of a tire, we asked the driver, Jim Locke.

"You have 14 steps going up, and at my house you have 14 steps to the bedroom. So it’s like going upstairs in my house, sitting on my bed and driving the house downtown," says Locke.

But getting downtown is just the beginning. The oil sands then go into a plant. They’re heated in a cell, which separates the oil from the sand. The result looks like something out of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. This oil froth is then sent to an upgrader and eventually to a refinery.

Asked if the processed oil is as good as that pumped in Saudi Arabia, Mather says, "Absolutely as good as. In fact, it even trades as a, at a premium because it’s high quality crude oil."


The capital of the oil sands frenzy is a frontier town called Fort McMurray, which isn’t in the middle of nowhere. It’s north of nowhere and colder than the Klondike, but a boomtown just the same. The local hockey team is called the "Oil Barons." They’re on a winning streak.

Is this comparable to a gold rush?

"I think it’s bigger than a gold rush. We’re expecting $100 billion over the next 10 years to be invested in this area — $100 billion in a population that, currently, is 70,000 people," says Brian Jean, who represents the region in Canada’s parliament.

Pickens is one of those investors. He runs a hedge fund in Dallas and is now a true believer.

"We’re managing $5 billion here. And, about 10 percent of it is in the oil sands. So, it’s the largest single investment we have," Pickens says.

And if oil sands are the answer for investors, does Pickens think the oil sands are the answer for the United States?

"Oh, I think so," he says.

Most of those lumbering trucks are on their way to the gas tanks of America. A million barrels a day are now coming out of the oil sands and oil production is expected to triple within a decade. It won’t replace Middle Eastern oil but at that point it will be the single largest source of foreign oil for the United States, even bigger than Saudi Arabia, which sends a million and a half barrels a day to America.

Greg Stringham, who works for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, says surprisingly, that Washington has only been paying attention for the "last couple of years."

Stringham often lobbies for the oil sands in Washington. He says that in Alberta you don’t have to look for the oil sands — the earth moves.

"When it comes to exploration in the oil sands, you can’t drill a dry hole. It’s there," he says. "We know where it is. They’ve outlined it. You don’t have any risk. But other conventional sectors around the world, there’s a huge exploration risk."

The exploration risks are the least of it. Much of the world’s crude is in the Middle East where the instability is deeper than the oil. When Alberta’s blue-eyed sheiks took to Wall Street last summer in their Stetsons to drum up support for the oil sands, their message seemed to be, "If you can’t trust Alberta, who can you trust?"

"Alberta is a very good place to do business. It’s a very stable environment," says Mather.

The bonus for Canadians, aside from the treasure, is the notion that Americans might have to start treating them with a little less condescension.

"With their oil, I think we’re going to need them a lot more than they need us," says Pickens.

"We may appear in Canada to be a mouse compared to the elephant down south in terms of diplomacy or politics. But in terms of resources, we are mighty equals," says Mather.

There have been grumblings out of Ottawa that Canada should consider using the oil sands as leverage in its serious trade disputes with the United States.

Does Brian Jean think America is taking Canada for granted on the oil sands?

"Absolutely. And I think most people, most Canadians believe that," he says.

And the Canadians have alternatives. The Chinese, for example, are just dying to get a piece of the sandbox.

"I’ve been contacted personally by Chinese delegates that want to get into the plant sites here and want to see and want to invest," says Jean.

Asked what he thinks about the Chinese interest in the oil sands up in Alberta, Pickens says, "At first I thought they were tire kickers. But I think they’re serious buyers."


And the millions of Chinese who have moved from their bicycles to traffic jams are driving up the demand for oil. It’s virtually insatiable and the Canadians want to step up production quickly. What’s holding them back is labor — the shortage of it.

Brian Jean says another 100,000 people are needed in Fort McMurray.

That’s why one oil company has built a runway to fly workers daily from civilization to Fort McMurray. But why would anyone want to come work in a place where temperatures plummet to 40 below and the sun sets shortly after it rises in the long winter? Well, perhaps because the oil companies pay some of the highest salaries in North America.

Take Josh Lichti, who says he could be making $120,000 by the time he is 22.

"It’s amazing," he says.

But even if workers come flocking, the oil companies still have other problems. Creating energy from oil sands requires so much energy that the oil companies wind up spiking greenhouse gas emissions.

"And they do it in volumes that exceed any other production of oil crude anywhere on the planet," says Elizabeth May, the director of the Sierra Club of Canada.

She takes issue not only with what the oil sands are doing to the atmosphere, but to the land. The oil companies, environmentalists say, are digging up an entire province. Take a helicopter ride over the mines and you’ll think you’re flying over the moon after a moonquake.

"One of the reasons they can be mined the way they’ve been mined is the out of sight, out of mind aspect of it. And your film crew is one of the few that’s gone in there to look at how devastating this is," May says.

Even money men like Pickens have noticed. "Can’t argue with it. I mean, there’s no question that, that they’ve got a mess up there. But I do think they’ll take care of it over time," he says.

The oil companies say they will reduce greenhouse gasses and they point out they are required by Canadian law to refill old mines and plant new trees, and that is happening — slowly. One company, Syncrude, has even introduced bison to land that once was a barren pit.

Rick George of Suncor Energy insists in the future people won’t recognize the mines. "So what you see today is a mine. What you’ll see 10 years from now is a replanted forest," he says.

"You’re telling me that if I come here, it’s gonna be pretty?" Simon asks.

"Absolutely," George says. "These sites will all be going back. Now we’ll be minin’ at a different location at that point.

"This will look forested when we get done with it in 20 years time."

But there is a larger question that not only environmentalists are asking: will the availability of an enormous supply of secure oil right next door mean America will have little incentive to reduce its dependence on oil?

"What Canada’s doing," says May, "is continuing to feed the U.S. addiction to fossil fuels, instead of being the kinda friend who says, 'Let’s make a helpful intervention here.' We're acting as the supplier of a drug fix to the U.S., while all the time saying, 'Just say no.' But we keep selling it."

But unless the Chinese go back to bicycles and Americans trash their SUVs, there will be buyers — for oil anywhere, no matter how it’s found or mined. Right now, Canada has become the land of opportunity for oilmen. They will tell you there is little else on the horizon.

"Bob, if you take a tablet and put on it where is supply gonna come from that we don’t know about today. And you put down all the optimistic points, that tablet will basically be blank," says Pickens.

As blank as the landscape around Fort McMurray, where the world of oil exploration ends.

Does Pickens think the days of cheap oil are gone?

"They’re gone," he says. "From what we knew as cheap oil, when I pumped gasoline in Ray Smith’s Sinclair station on Hinkley Street in Holdenvale, Oklahoma, 11 cents a gallon, that’s gone."

Will we ever again see $1.50 a gallon? "We won’t ever see $1.50 a gallon. No, that’s gone," says Pickens.

Right around the corner from Fort McMurray you can still see oil being produced the traditional way. It’s picturesque now. The wells are still pumping but they belong to the past, like the iron horse that once rode across these prairies.

The future? Up here in Alberta they’re convinced it’s in the dirt.


By Draggan Mihailovich ©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/20/60minutes/main1225184.shtml) All Rights Reserved.

[Big Train]

Glad to see Canada coming to it's senses.

[BITEYOASS]

Besides Mulrooney was Conservative PM during the Regan years. And he did quite the opposite of what the Repugs believed, such as trading with Cuba and opposing Apartheid. Plus I believe that the health care system was still intact.

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by Big Train
Glad to see Canada coming to it's senses.

When do we come to our senses?

Why isn't the US investing money into this rather than into destroying, then rebuilding, IRAQ?

[Big Train]

Investing money into what Nick, their oil? As the main purchasers, I'd say we are investing quite a bit.

[WACF]

With the current oil price we Canadians are investing too....

[Angel]

Originally posted by Nickdfresh
When do we come to our senses?

Why isn't the US investing money into this rather than into destroying, then rebuilding, IRAQ?

US & British have been ruling the Alberta oil industry for YEARS. I would wager a guess that the two biggest companies in Ft McMoney are British Petroleum and Haliburton. The City of Calgary has held the reputation as being the most Americanized city in Canada since the early 1950's, when the AB government welcomed the US oil companies into the province, wiping out numerous local small operators.

[Angel]

Originally posted by BITEYOASS
Besides Mulrooney was Conservative PM during the Regan years. And he did quite the opposite of what the Repugs believed, such as trading with Cuba and opposing Apartheid. Plus I believe that the health care system was still intact.

They didn't pull Mulroney out of Regan's ass until the autopsy. The party was also the "Progressive Conservative" party at that time. Although the bastard brought in the GST and sold us out with "Free Trade". Plus if memory serves me correctly, it was Mulroney's cuts to transfer payments to the Provinces which caused all Provincial governments across the country to make cut backs on health spending.

Don't forget, it was when Mulroney was in power that you guys were laughing over our 65 cent dollar.

[WACF]

Thing about Mulroney is when he took power our deficit was close to $40 billion....then the world went into a recession...it only increased.

The GST is what was intended to bring down that deficit...the Libs campaigned on disolving it.
When they took power they found it was the only thing that would work...they actually said they made a mistake in promising to kill it.
The libs were the ones that cut real deep.
Economist have said for years that the Libs could of encouraged economic growth by cutting corporate tax, encourage growth and NOT cut transfer payments to the provinces.
Remember, it was Trudeau that wanted our oil!

I am wary of free trade but we did steal alot of jobs from the US over that...along with the 65 cent dollar...now we are losing those jobs.

[Angel]

Who do you think will benefit from Harper's proposed cuts?

So far, I've seen an amazing difference in my own lifestyle due to our current economy. Harper's cuts benefit the rich, not the middle class.

Don't get me wrong, I'm fiscally conservative, but as a gay anti-Bush Canadian, Harper just ain't for me.

[Full Bug]

Originally posted by Angel

Don't get me wrong, I'm fiscally conservative, but as a gay anti-Bush Canadian, Harper just ain't for me.
Funny, I thought about you Angel last night when the Conservatives won, thinking how dissappointed you must have felt, lol....
Dont worry, I dont think the sky will fall, although I must admit I was looking forward to seeing how Martin was going to ban guns in space....;) :D

[FORD]

Maybe Full Bong hasn't considered what a Canadian neocon government might do to his favorite pasttime.

Canadian stoners have had it pretty easy compared to their US counterparts.

[Full Bug]

Originally posted by FORD
Maybe Full Bong hasn't considered what a Canadian neocon government might do to his favorite pasttime.

Yeah, thats all I care about FORD....:rolleyes:
Harper will have his hands full with alot of issues, I doubt making things worse for Canadians who are charged with possession of Pot will be high on his list....What you would call a right wing government here is alot more like middle of the road compared to the US....The Conservative Party is still far left of the Republican Party in the US....
It's a minority government, unlike in the US where the Republicans currently dominate pretty much all levels of government.... The Conservatives won't be able to push through any radical social changes such as rolling back the gay marriage decision or abortion....

[WACF]

Originally posted by Angel
Who do you think will benefit from Harper's proposed cuts?

So far, I've seen an amazing difference in my own lifestyle due to our current economy. Harper's cuts benefit the rich, not the middle class.

Don't get me wrong, I'm fiscally conservative, but as a gay anti-Bush Canadian, Harper just ain't for me.

One thing that impressed me was his cutting the GST...so that everyone benefits.
The disabled under the Harper plan would gain where under the Lib plan they would not.

Same goes for the child care thing.
First off no one helped me out when my kids were young.
Under the Lib plan I would subsidize at best 1 out of 16 kids.
If you live in a small or big town you could forget about it...why should people in small centers subsidize people in bigger centers?
It is just job creation at the fed level to distribute money...alot of the money would be eaten up in administration...just like medicare.

We need to stimulate growth...no one had a platform that touched on creating wealth.
We need to do something.

I know what you getting at with Harper's gay stance.

[Angel]

I don't think any US citizen could fully understand that right in Canada means Centre.

Nor does FORD understand a minority government. I PREFER minority governments, if they manage to get work done in the process. The opposition will not allow any changes to take place in Canada that will effect fundamental Canadian values. Same sex marriage legislation will remain, we will stay out of the weaponization of space, and abortion will remain legal. If they were a majority government, the result would be very much the same. Changes to our rights and freedoms would not be accepted by the majority of Canadians, and frankly I feel the conservatives will do a better job regarding crime and immigration.

However Bug, you can be guaranteed the de-criminalization of marijuana WILL NOT be passed, hell it won't even be proposed. However, in Canada you only have to worry about getting busted if you're a dealer with a revolving door, or run a grow-op. I can easily sit in my home with an ounce or two of weed, hell even a quarter pound, and not feel like I'm at any risk of being busted.

[Angel]

Originally posted by Full Bug
Funny, I thought about you Angel last night when the Conservatives won, thinking how dissappointed you must have felt, lol....

Sweetheart, I thought they were going to win a majority, and I was preparing to apply to Iran for refugee status. ;)

I'm ELATED! His government is too small to fuck things up royally, and now the Lib's can clean up shop.

FYI, Bug... I was a PC all my life, until the party ceased to exist and us "progressive" conservatives were left without a party - maybe it's time for Mel Hurtig to try starting up the "Canadian Party" he wanted to get off the ground a few years ago. :)

[Full Bug]

Funny, I was a member of the Reform Party when Preston Manning was in charge, that seems like a million years ago now, my father got me into politics as soon as I was old enough to understand it, I miss the political discussions we used to have all the time, lol....

[knuckleboner]

Originally posted by Angel
we will stay out of the weaponization of space

is that a big issue up north?

i would say it ranks pretty minor in the States. it's definitely not a campaign issue for anybody.

[Full Bug]

Originally posted by knuckleboner
is that a big issue up north?

I dont think so, but some media here would like to make it out to be....The Americans are going to do what they want regardless of what we say anyway....

[Vinnie Velvet]

Originally posted by Full Bug
Dont pray for me, I hope the Conservatives win, you want to talk about a corrupt government, the Liberals are it hands down.....I see Ford has been conned by all the 'The Conservatives in gonna make us the next US state' nonsense that has been played up in the Liberal supporting media here, glad to see from the polls here most Canadians dont buy into that garbage....

I have to agree with ya.

[Angel]

Originally posted by Full Bug
I dont think so, but some media here would like to make it out to be....The Americans are going to do what they want regardless of what we say anyway....

Are you Ontarion's even on this fucking planet anymore? This is a very big issue, as it goes against Canadian values. Joining the missile defense would almost guarantee a "yes" vote next Quebec referendum...

[FORD]

Originally posted by Full Bug
What you would call a right wing government here is alot more like middle of the road compared to the US....The Conservative Party is still far left of the Republican Party in the US....

The Conservative Party, as it has existed up until now, might well be to the left of the US Republican party. My point is that Harper is a neocon who literally comes from the same thought processes that gave this country our current fascist policies.

So then my question would have to be.... of the Conservatives who won new seats yesterday, how many of them were "old school Tories" vs how many were neocon shitbags. Because if the neocons take over your Conservative party they WILL become a clone of the right wing here.


It's a minority government, unlike in the US where the Republicans currently dominate pretty much all levels of government.... The Conservatives won't be able to push through any radical social changes such as rolling back the gay marriage decision or abortion....

Unless they con a sizable number of the "Liberals" into voting with them, just like the spineless DLC senators vote with Chimpy and the Republicans here.

Our spineless senators used the "war on terra" as an excuse to switch parties in all but name. How do you think your "centrists" would hold up if Vancouver or Toronto got hit?

Sorry to be such a fucking downer, but after the last 5 years dealing with these neocon bastards destroying my country, I can reasonably predict what they will do to yours, if they get half a chance. :(

[Romeo Delight]

Originally posted by Nickdfresh
When do we come to our senses?

Why isn't the US investing money into this rather than into destroying, then rebuilding, IRAQ?

No, your politicians would rather satisfy desperate senators, trying to prop up inefficient industries in the US like softwood lumber.

Then these senators back up banning our beef to help senators in other states when there is no science backing that up, all the while there is evidence your beef producers are covering up mad cow cases.

It is so wasteful...

In the meantime we are forging ties with China. Best to watch how you treat us. Ignoring NAFTA and disregarding several black and white rulings could backfire.

Follow the trade agreements you sign or lose these resources that are becoming more and more precious.

[scamper]

Originally posted by DavidFlamma
No, your politicians would rather satisfy desperate senators, trying to prop up inefficient industries in the US like softwood lumber.

Then these senators back up banning our beef to help senators in other states when there is no science backing that up, all the while there is evidence your beef producers are covering up mad cow cases.

It is so wasteful...

In the meantime we are forging ties with China. Best to watch how you treat us. Ignoring NAFTA and disregarding several black and white rulings could backfire.

Follow the trade agreements you sign or lose these resources that are becoming more and more precious.

Watch what you say, Bush might just come up there and take your oil and lumber.

[Angel]

Let him fucking try. ;)

[scamper]

Originally posted by Angel
Let him fucking try. ;)

All I'm saying is you better hide your "Weapons of Moose Destruction" you know how crazy he gets.

[Angel]

All the dope-smokers and married gay couples will be at the border to welcome him! ;)

[Cathedral]

Originally posted by Angel
All the dope-smokers and married gay couples will be at the border to welcome him! ;)


A truckload of Twinkies and several cases of Anal Lube should take care of that resistance in about 2 minutes.
Throw in a French-Vanilla Latte and they'll hold the door open for Bush and his crew of misfits.

LMMFAO, sorry, couldn't resist that one. ;)

Seriously, though it may pain you Canucks to no end...We're more alike than anyone cares to admit.
It's the sameness that ignites the fire of rivalry, much like a Hockey Championship would spawn.

[Angel]

Don't apologize Cat! That was a good one!

Shhhh... don't tell anyone we have similarities... it's our little secret. ;)