| The simplest explanation for the question is this: Heavy | | | | $80 US dollars. |
| Oil is any type of unrefined crude oil which is just too | | | | Recently, newly developed technology is enabling the |
| thick (viscous) to flow easily. In order to make the | | | | reduction of both water and natural gas use which |
| heavy oil flow, a type of thinner or "diluent" is used to | | | | goes a long way towards answering some of the oil |
| reduce the viscosity (thickness) and allow the now | | | | industry's critics. Some critics however take an |
| diluted oil to flow through a pipeline to an oil refinery. | | | | ideological stance about the destructiveness of the oil |
| Heavy oil deposits are found in over 30 countries | | | | and gas industry and are not satisfied. Nevertheless |
| around the world with the largest deposit being found | | | | new technologies like "Solvent Extraction" which |
| near Orinoco, Venezuela. Canada also has large | | | | eliminates the use of water,steam and heat from the |
| deposits in North Eastern Alberta around the booming | | | | extraction process, and "ElectroThermal" technology |
| small city of Fort McMurray. The exploitation of this | | | | which gradually warms the bitumen while "in situ"(in the |
| key energy supply called variously Energy Sands, Oil | | | | ground) thereby easing the oil extraction and reducing |
| Sands, or Tar Sands has generated a lot of | | | | greenhouse gas emissions. To be fair, these are small |
| controversy and protestations throughout the world. | | | | companies that are coming up with new ways of |
| Traditionally, heavy oil production consisted of strip | | | | extracting heavy oil and account for a small fraction of |
| mining where the sands containing an oil bearing | | | | the roughly one million barrels per day of heavy crude |
| substance named "Bitumen" were dug up in vast | | | | oil produced in the Energy Sands region. The larger |
| swaths denuding the land and were then injected with | | | | companies to date have not been nearly as |
| hot water or steam to separate the heavy crude oil | | | | aggressive in adopting new technology. |
| from the sand byproduct. Environmental groups have | | | | Today heavy oil is an important natural resource which |
| long derided this practice as being wasteful and | | | | accounts for nearly one quarter of North Americas |
| destructive as the land itself was first dug up, then | | | | fuel supply. As a safe and secure oil reserve the |
| natural gas was used to heat the water. Critics | | | | future of this industry will remain strong although the |
| complained that this method of oil recovery was too | | | | larger oil companies are likely to continue to face |
| resource intensive, and indeed it is an expensive | | | | criticism and protestations for their seeming |
| process. Experts say that in order to be profitable the | | | | indifference to public concerns. |
| Energy Sands need an oil price per barrel of about | | | | |