Oil Sands Case Study

Countries having the bituminous sand but the wide range of this sand are finding in Canada. The research show that this company is important for economy and showing robust future in the future because in 2004, the processing of engineered unrefined petroleum (SCO) and natural rough bitumen spoke to 41 percent of aggregate Canadian oil generation. At an accepted WTI cost of $32 for every barrel, the oil sands generation is relied upon to expand three fold by 2017, helping considerably more than 50% of Alberta's oil supply. The normal elevated amount of oil action ought to prompt gigantic budgetary development in the district and in addition in the area. The number of inhabitants in the locale (i.e., Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake Economic Region7) has expanded by 8 percent between 2000 and 2004. This contrasts and a development of 7 percent for the region, and 5 percent for the country over the same period. The development and improvement in the oil sands industry at the provincial level affects the common, national

The Alberta Oil Sands have affected many stakeholder groups such as government, residents, researchers and employees. However, we will focus on how it affects the Alberta Government; specifically, Ed Stlemech of the Conservative Government. As my stake holder, Ed Stlemech does not live within the Alberta Oil Sands area as well as have any direct relevance to it, I will instead examine how it has affects the citizens of Alberta and more importantly, those who live in and near the Fort Chipewyan area. In this way, the environmental, the economical as well as the societal impacts will impact Albertan voters and therefore impact the Conservative Government in way of the Alberta General Election.

The Canadian province of Alberta is home to one of the world’s largest unconventional oil reserves — a roughly 140,000 km² area covered by a combination of boreal forest and peatland. Bitumen, the substance comprising these reserves, is a particularly resource intensive and environmentally destructive fuel source to extract, requiring significant amounts of water and often strip-mined land (Huseman & Short, 2012). Now referred to by many as the Athabasca oil sands, the area has traditionally inhabited by a number of Canada’s First Nations (FN) groups. These rich hunting, fishing, and gathering grounds in northern Alberta have sustained FN groups for

The production of the oil sands is very different compared to conventional oil. Oil sand are more energy intensive. To extract one barrel of oil, 250 feet of natural gas is needed. It also takes 3-5 large barrels of water to extract one barrel of oil. Oil sand production is also requiring more heavy machinery and needs more labour-intensive work (Indigenous Environmental 3). Conventional oil mining is not this complicated or complex. It is expected that in twelve years the greenhouse gas pollution from oil sands is expected to more than double. That is in just twelve years, and this needs to change (Globe and Mail

The article, “Stop oilsands expansion, Canadian and U.S. researchers say” by CBC News is a convincing model of how Canada should progress with the oil sands in the future due to the credibility of the arguments. As stated in the article, “The answer isn’t a moratorium, but even more spending on research to mitigate the industry’s impacts” . All in all, the article was convincing as the analysts show maturity and a sense of realism to understand that the Canadian economy needs the oil sands so expansion may be harmful, but a moratorium is out of the

In 2015, the world will face a vast amount of dilemmas; these dilemmas range from how someone is going to get their food to how they are going to cook. But the biggest dilemma of them all, is how they are going to continue to get energy to do everyday tasks. The most efficient resources are those of the nonrenewable variety. These nonrenewable resources include fossil fuels, such as coal, natural gas, and petroleum. Someday these resources will run out and will not be replenished for thousands of years. As of now, an overwhelming majority of the energy used in the world today is non-renewable. We, as civilized people, are so dependent on fossil fuels that we go through extraneous efforts to retrieve these properties. The world needs energy to function and sites that once contained vital resources are on the verge of depletion. It is inevitable that the world looks elsewhere for another resource to absorb the depleting reservoirs. One reservoir capable of withstanding the demand for oil are the tar sands located near Alberta, Canada. These tar sands are the third largest reservoir of crude oil in the world and are conveniently located just north of the United States border (About the Project). There is a wide spread debate on whether or not the crude oil produced from these tar sands should be transported via pipeline. With critical analysis of all point of views, it is without a doubt that the United States should cease their delay on

The Alberta tar sands, is currently the largest construction project taking place in the world, and as such is a very important development. The Alberta tar sands are a necessary evil, because the world is running out of conventional oil, and they are the last remnants of oil. All of the easy oil has been discovered, and exploited, and the tar sands is the crude oil that we are left with. As we all know oil is what makes the world go round, and without it we would be unable to produce enough food, or perform many other important processes. Therefore, the Alberta tar sands are very essential for keeping the world supplied with oil. However, there are many negative effects from the development, and refining of the oil from the tar sands, which has caused much environmental damage.

While the Alberta oil sands are critical to the Canadian economy, environmental policies must be strengthened in order to diminish the immense risk in the transportation of crude oil, the harming of human health, and the deterioration of the surrounding

Diverse and multi-faceted, the Canadian business market is one of the strongest functioning mixed market economies in the world. Within the Canadian economy, the oil and gas sector stands as one of the largest and most influential sectors. The oil and gas industry is unique as it affects almost every person and sector of the economy worldwide, whether it is through commodity or material input costs. In Canada, this growing industry could allow for the country to be the one of the “biggest energy producers in the world” leading to a massive paradigm shift globally.

Along with greenhouse gases, other pollutants are released into the air during oil sands operations. These pollutants are harmful to ambient air quality and human health. In the Alberta oil sands, regional air quality is mainly impacted by the production of nitrogen dioxide and nitric oxide (NOx gases) (“Air Emissions,” 2015). NOx gases are primarily produced by fuel combustion in vehicles and react to form smog and acid rain (NOx gases in diesel car,” 2015). Consequently, these gases project a concern to the workers present that are mining the oil sands. This is because NOx gases overtime can lead to reduced lung function and breathing problems (NOx gases in diesel car,” 2015). Finally, these gases pose a threat to local wildlife and vegetation since they react to form acid rain in the atmosphere. The production of acid rain is harmful for the ecosystems present. This is especially true for aquatic ecosystems and overtime will lead to death of local wildlife. To conclude, the development of the oil sands is unfavorable due to the production of harmful gases. The development impacts global climate negatively due to increased greenhouse gas

The Alberta Tar Sands are large deposits of bitumen,a sticky, black and viscous semi-solid form of petroleum.(Merriam Webster) The bitumen is extracted from the earth and separated from materials that are not petroleum. This process consumes both water from the Athabasca River drainage basin and energy. While emissions from the water used are low the airborne pollutants contain more than 350 kilograms of cancer causing chemicals every four months.(Kelly) Also, bitumen is one of the least efficient power sources in the world.(Rapier) The Tar Sands are dangerous for people to live near, are environmentally damaging and unsustainable and are an inefficient source of power compared to other sources available in Canada. While the Tar Sands are currently good for the canadian economy, in the long-term they will cost us more than they make.

The other adverse effect of the Canadian oil sands is that pipelines and massive processes of refining oil sands in Canada are a source of pollution that pose a great threat to air, water, and land as well as human health. Additionally, the use of its products like natural gas that is used to run medium-sized turbines that produce electricity releases greenhouse gases. These emissions are mostly produced when steam is injected to reduce the viscosity of the crude and during refining. These further increases to the global warming effect that is already out of hand and it also negates the gains made by society by exposing them to the adverse negative

When trading oil it pays to keep an eye on the major consuming nations, as any increase or decrease in usage is sure to have an impact on the commodities performance. Something that is also worth monitoring – with this tying into the performance of major consuming nations – is OPEC, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. This international organisation works to ensure both the stablisaiton of the oil markets, along with coordinate and unify petroleum policies. Current members of OPEC include mass-producing oil nations (13 in total, including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, Iraq, and Qatar). Considering that OPEC has the power to decide policies related to the production and sale of petroleum oil, it certainly has the power to impact the price, flow, and distribution of oil worldwide.

Canada has a large stake in the international oil market. It is currently the 6th largest producer of crude oil and last year the Canadian oil industry produced 3.8 million barrels of oil per day (Canadian Association of Petroleum Produces, 2016). Since oil is a significant part of the Canadian economy, fluctuations in the international price of oil will affect all Canadians. However, due to the fact that some provinces produce more oil than they consume and others consume way more than they produce, the impact of a significant increase in international oil prices on Canadians will be dependent on which province they reside in. More specifically an increase will positively impact the economic welfare of Canadians living or operating in resource rich provinces but will have a negative impact on the economic welfare of Canadians living or operating in

The US oil and gas exploration and production industry consists of about 5,000 companies with combined annual revenue of about $290 billion and is expected to have a high-growth rate over the next two years. Key growth drivers include rising demand for energy (Hoover’s Company Profiles).” The companies involved also deal with many different factors in production, manufacture and distribution; including weighing the different global economic, political and environmental factors that are tied to profit. The fortunes of oil and gas companies are tied to overall supply and demand issues that are reflected in oil and gas prices. Price changes affect industry sectors differently. High prices for oil and natural gas benefit the upstream (exploration and production) companies but hurt the downstream (refiners) in the form of raw material costs. This affects the overall strength and profit of these companies, but many Oil & Gas companies are considered integrated, which means they are involved in all three sectors of the industry. The business diversification between the upstream and the downstream tends to mitigate the effects of oil and gas price fluctuations. Because they are usually more leveraged to the upstream, such companies general benefit from higher prices for oil and natural gas.