The modern world of today runs on fossil fuels with crude oil being the live blood of industrialized countries. Though much of the twentieth century old was plentiful easily acquired and low in cost it has only been in the past thirty years that we have seen oil prices rise substantially. This can be attributed to many different reason. These price changes have challenged the industrialized world to become more creative with their techniques of both acquiring oil and using it.
In northern Alberta, Canada there lies the Athabasca oil sands this the worlds second largest reserve of oil. The oil oil sands are a mixture of sand clay water and sandstone that are loosely packed together with an an extremely dense form of petroleum called
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The pipe line has been proposed in 4 different phases 3 of which are under construction right now. Phases 1 of the pipe line runs 2150 miles from Hardisty Alberta to Wood River and Patoka Illinois. This Phase of the pipe line was completed in 2010. Phase 2 is a section of pipe line of roughly 300 miles that runs from Steele City Nebraska to Crushing Oklahoma to a large storage area. Phase 3A is a 435 mile stretch of pipe where American made oil is added to the pipe and run from Crushing Oklahoma to both Nederland and Port Arthur Texas, Key stone stated pumping though this section on January 21 2014. Phase 3B or The Houston Lateral Project is a proposed 50 mile addition to the existing pipe line that will allow oil to be distributed out of oil farms and storage in Crushing. Phase 4 which is the is the most controversial, this proposed pipe would start in Hardisty Alberta and would go through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska where it will link up with the existing pipeline in Steele city. This addition to the pipe line would save time and transport extra much needed oil for the consumption for the North American continent.
There are many benefits to the oil sands. If you look at our would today over half our oil is imported from other countries. Though they are not the countries that most people think of when they hear about this subject 73% of the oil used on a daily basis in the United states comes from north America. With almost
The Athabasca Delta is a breeding ground for species of birds, which was destroyed to clear the land for oil development. These development practices are a leading factor towards increases in pollution. A scientific panel stated on Tuesday that pollution must be corrected, as there are major debates against the oil sands development. Proponents argue that business through the Oil Sands has made Canada a major player in foreign supplement. Unemployment rates have decreased across Canada and companies generate huge profits. The Alberta Oil Sands provide Canada with a secure source of energy. Throughout the world, Canadian oil reserves are the second largest in the world. Oil mining operations in Canada also help create more trading partnerships with different countries. This is a great way Canada can strengthen relationships and ties with various nation-states. The Oil Sands is a stabilizing force for Canada’s economy, yet it has a tremendous effect on the environment. Corporations are held responsible for their actions, and environmental protection should be their main concern. The procedures that the Oil Sands has taken are not effective, to an extent, where the pace of investment and development in the oil sands
These factors result in several issues and challenges. These matters have brought a conflict between the various stakeholders in this industry (Oilsandstruth.org, 2015). This discussion aims to identify the primary issues associated with the Canada oil sands and the involved stakeholders. Secondly, the stakeholders’ political view will be established. Finally, the discussion will recommend policies that can be effective in solving the challenges associated with the issues.
The reason of the fall in oil prices are the constant change of demand. The need for the oil is actually stagnant. Crude oil is becoming a product of the past. Today, you can harvest energy from solar, wind, water, heat, and waves. According to The Economist, “The use of fossil fuels in the rich world is mostly falling. Emerging economies are not currently taking up the slack”.
The Alberta tar sands, is currently the largest construction project taking place in the world, and as such is a very important
Every dollar invested makes about $7.50 worth of economic activity and one third of this activity occurs in the rest of canada(Alberta government,march 15 2013). In 10 years about 116 billion was invested into the oil sands, which means that the oil sands don't only make money from extracting the oil(Alberta government,march 15 2013). In conclusion the alberta oil sands make canada a lot of money and raise the
Government has been working closely with industry for years, which is also a key factor in developing the oil sands in a socially responsible way. Most major oil companies are involved with initiatives like Water for Life Strategy, Alberta Water Council and Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada (CAPP, 2012). Alberta’s oil sands are being developed with social responsibility in mind.
People that support the oil sands argue that they're beneficial for our economy, jobs and energy, but what happens when the oil sands are gone? Canada depends on the oil sands very heavily for those things so once they're gone we're going to be scrambling to find other sources to replace what the oil sands provides for us for so long. The oil sands are making around 23 billion dollars per year and makin 151 000 jobs which means Canada will need to find another way to make that money and jobs. Once the oil sands are gone, Canada will be desperate for somewhere to get money, jobs and
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
Firstly, Canada itself is a foreign nation. In the attempt to close our doors to foreign dependency on oil, we are actually becoming even more dependent on solely one foreign nation. The amount of oil we will receive from Canada is a substantial amount since it will replace overseas imports on foreign oil. Instead of being more reliant on our own oil, we are only shifting focus to rely on another nation that is not in economic or political turmoil. Secondly, the Keystone Pipeline itself is an export pipeline. Canada will be using the pipeline in order to transport crude oil to refineries in the Gulf Coast. Once the crude oil reaches the Gulf Coast, refineries will refine the crude oil into diesel and export it to Europe and Latin America. We will not be dependent on these countries anymore for their oil, but we will be involved in the importing and exporting of oil. In fact, this will actually pull the U.S. into a greater involvement with these nations. According to Oil Change International, the only way that we can actually reduce our dependency on foreign oil is to reduce our dependency on all oil as a whole. Throughout history, our energy sources have been constantly changing, from steam, to coal, and now to oil. We are in need of a new energy source and one that is actually reliable. Once we attain it, we will no longer be dependent on oil.
Canada is benefitting because we are selling and exporting a lot of oil to the USA. The Keystone Pipeline positively helping the US economy and is boosting it. It provides cheap and affordable heating and helps out US and Canadian residents. The Keystone Pipeline is a cheaper and more effective way of transporting oil than transporting it through trucks and ships. Lac Megantic was a train carrying oil the crashed and harmed the environment massively. As well, Exxon Valdez was an oil ship that ran aground in BC and contaminated a lot of water and killed many animals. The Keystone Pipeline has it’s risks but there is less of a chance of it running into an accident than an oil ship or train and is safer for the environment and people living near
The Keystone XL pipeline will be one of the largest pipelines in the United States if it is constructed. The pipeline will travel 1,702 miles from Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf of Mexico and will be built by TransCanada, a Canadian-based company (Song). The major pipeline will cross six states on its journey to the Gulf of Mexico, which would be carrying an impressive 830,000 barrels of crude oil per day (Molina and Xiaobi 170). Each barrel of oil is the equivalent to forty-two gallons, which is a more relatable measurement. The pipeline will also connect with the previous Keystone pipeline traveling through the heart of America. It will be carrying oil from the tar sands of Canada, which are also known as oil sands. These contain heavier crude oil than what the United States
The statement ‘Canada oil sands are much more of a blessing rather than a curse’ is not true because the disadvantages of oil sands outweigh the advantages. For this reason, this paper aims at indicating points against the statement. To understand the defects of oil sand exploration in Canada, one has to delve into the explanation of what oil sands are as well as how the entire process of mining and refining and thereafter, determine the disadvantages based on socioeconomic factors, environmental factors, as well as the infrastructure and energy required for its production.
Oil sands are a combination of sand, water, clay, and bitumen. Extraction of oil sands can create petroleum products that are efficient. With several economic advantages of importing such a powerful source of energy, Enbridge proposed the Northern Gateway pipeline project which was a plan to build twin pipelines from Bruderheim, Alberta to Kitimat, British Columbia for the transportation of natural gas and diluted bitumen from the Athabasca
In journal #4 (Jordaan, Sarah M, David W Keith, and Brad Stelfox. "Quantifying Land Use of Oil Sands Production: A Life Cycle Perspective." Environ. Res. Lett. Environmental Research Letters: 024004. Print.) a 2008 study in Alberta, Canada examine the wildlife and the effects that drilling causes it. Alberta drills 1.3 mbpd (million barrels per day) worth of crude oil, which is about 1.5% of the world’s daily production. Surface mining is the main type of drilling there. The cycle by which oil is drilling and the effects of it are in the picture below:
Oil is a finite resource that is ever diminishing in quantity. In coming years, it will become very scarce and hard to find. While everyone is starting to find solutions to compensate for the imminent forgoing of oil, such as car industries being one of the main ones as they use oil to run their machines mostly, it will be a while before oil can be replaced completely by other things. Even with said replacements, functions that used to be handled by oil will be diverse and complex in nature such as the multiple different energy sources being tested today. Some temporary solutions that are meant to delay the end of oil, and prolong its stay is the method of extracting oil unconventionally. Oil industries and governments across the globe are