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A large part of oil sands mining operations involves clearing trees and brush from a site and removing the overburden—topsoil, muskeg, sand, clay and gravel—that sits atop the oil sands deposit. [146] Approximately 2.5 tons of oil sands are needed to produce one barrel of oil (roughly 1 ⁄ 8 of a ton). [147]
Because proven reserves include oil recoverable under current economic conditions, nations may see large increases in proven reserves when known, but previously uneconomic deposits become economic to develop. In this way, Canada's proven reserves increased suddenly in 2003 when the oil sands of Alberta were seen to
The Athabasca oil sands, also known as the Athabasca tar sands, are large deposits of oil sands rich in bitumen, a heavy and viscous form of petroleum, in northeastern Alberta, Canada. These reserves are one of the largest sources of unconventional oil in the world, making Canada a significant player in the global energy market.
In addition to conventional oil, Venezuela has oil sands deposits similar in size to those of Canada, and approximately equal to the world's reserves of conventional oil. Venezuela's Orinoco oil sands are less viscous than Canada's Athabasca oil sands – meaning they can be produced by more conventional means – but they are buried too deep ...
In 2007 the World Energy Council estimated that these oil sands areas contained at least two-thirds of the world's discovered bitumen in place at the time, [3] with an original oil-in-place (OOIP) reserve of 260,000,000,000 cubic metres (9.2 × 10 12 cu ft) (1.6 trn barrels), an amount comparable to the total world reserves of conventional oil.
The world's largest deposit of natural bitumen, known as the Athabasca oil sands, is located in the McMurray Formation of Northern Alberta. This formation is from the early Cretaceous, and is composed of numerous lenses of oil-bearing sand with up to 20% oil. [24] Isotopic studies show the oil deposits to be about 110 million years old. [25]
This figure includes the oil sands reserves that are estimated by government regulators to be economically producible at current prices using current technology. [1] According to this figure, Canada's reserves are third only to Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. Over 95% of these reserves are in the oil sands deposits in the province of Alberta. [2]
This list of oil fields includes some major oil fields of the past and present. Countries by proven oil reserves 2017. The list is incomplete; there are more than 25,000 oil and gas fields of all sizes in the world. [1] However, 94 % of known oil is concentrated in fewer than 1,500 giant and major fields. [2]