Meeting tomorrow's energy needs. Pt. 2. Stripmining the Athabascan tar sands

Journal Article · Wed Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1978 · Weld. Des. Fabr.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6602078

Canadian oil companies and the provincial and federal governments have long regarded the tar sands as a great natural resource. They are easily strip-mined. Overburden ranges from 7 to 110 ft (2 to 34 m). Great Canadian Oil Sands, Ltd., already extracts 50,000 bbl (6,000 cu m) of synthetic crude oil a day. Now an even larger project is underway to tap their riches. Syncrude Canada Ltd., a public-private consortium composed of Gulf Oil Canada Ltd.; Canada-Cities Services Ltd.; Imperial Oil Ltd.; PetroCanada (the federal government oil company), and the provincial governments of Alberta and Ontario, is currently embarked on the third largest construction project in North America. The mining equipment is four 80-cu-yd (60 cu m) draglines, 4 bucket-wheel reclaimers, and conveyors. An extraction plant and an upgrading plant will convert the bitumen to synthetic crude oil. A 260-mw power plant also is being built. A 285-mile pipeline will carry oil to Edmonton and a 185-mile pipeline will import natural gas from a field north of there.

• OSTI ID: 6602078
• Journal Information: Weld. Des. Fabr.; (United States), Journal Name: Weld. Des. Fabr.; (United States) Vol. 51:3; ISSN WDEFA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040300* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Drilling
Fracturing & Mining
ATHABASCA DEPOSIT
BITUMENS
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CONSTRUCTION
ENERGY SOURCES
EQUIPMENT
EXPLOITATION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
MATERIALS
MINING
MINING EQUIPMENT
OIL SAND DEPOSITS
OIL SAND MINING
OIL SAND PROCESSING PLANTS
OIL SANDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OVERBURDEN
RECOVERY
SURFACE MINING
SYNTHETIC FUELS
SYNTHETIC PETROLEUM
TAR