Oil Sands - Reserves

Reserves

According to the WEC, natural bitumen is reported in 598 deposits in 23 countries, with the largest deposits in Canada, Kazakhstan, and Russia. Discovered original oil in place is 2,511.326 billion barrels (399.2689×10^9 m3) and total original oil in place is estimated 3,328.598 billion barrels (529.2048×10^9 m3). Natural bitumen reserves are estimated at 249.67 billion barrels (39.694×10^9 m3) globally, of which 176.8 billion barrels (28.11×10^9 m3) are in Canada, 42.009 billion barrels (6.6789×10^9 m3) in Kazakhstan and 28.38 billion barrels (4.512×10^9 m3) in Russia.

Most of the oil sands of Canada are located in three major deposits in northern Alberta. These are the Athabasca-Wabiskaw oil sands of north northeastern Alberta, the Cold Lake deposits of east northeastern Alberta, and the Peace River deposits of northwestern Alberta. Between them, they cover over 140,000 square kilometres (54,000 sq mi)—an area larger than England—and hold proven reserves of 1.75 trillion barrels (280×10^9 m3) of bitumen in place. About 10% of this, or 173 billion barrels (27.5×10^9 m3), is estimated by the government of Alberta to be recoverable at current prices, using current technology, which amounts to 97% of Canadian oil reserves and 75% of total North American petroleum reserves. The Cold Lake deposits extend across the Alberta's eastern border into Saskatchewan. In addition to the Alberta oil sands, there are major oil sands deposits on Melville Island in the Canadian Arctic islands, which are unlikely to see commercial production in the foreseeable future. The largest bitumen deposit, containing about 80% of the Alberta total, and the only one suitable for surface mining, is the Athabasca oil sands along the Athabasca River. The mineable area (as defined by the Alberta government) includes 37 townships covering about 3,400 square kilometres (1,300 sq mi) near Fort McMurray. The smaller Cold Lake deposits are important because some of the oil is fluid enough to be extracted by conventional methods. All three Alberta areas are suitable for production using in-situ methods, such as cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) and steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD).

Several other countries hold oil sands deposits which are smaller by orders of magnitude. In Kazakhstan, the bitumen deposits are located in the North Caspian Basin. Russia holds oil sands in two main regions. Large resources are present in the Tunguska Basin, East Siberia, with the largest deposits being Olenek and Siligir. Other deposits are located in the Timan-Pechora and Volga-Urals basins (in and around Tatarstan), which is an important but very mature province in terms of conventional oil, holds large amounts of oil sands in a shallow permian formation.

In Madagascar, Tsimiroro and Bemolanga are two heavy oil sands deposits, with a pilot well already producing small amounts of oil in Tsimiroro. and larger scale exploitation in the early planning phase. In the Republic of the Congo reserves are estimated between 0.5 and 2.5 billion barrels (79×10^6 and 400×10^6 m3).

In the United States, oil sands resources are primarily concentrated in Eastern Utah. With a total of 32 billion barrels (5.1×10^9 m3) of oil (known and potential) in eight major deposits in the Utah counties of Carbon, Garfield, Grand, Uintah, and Wayne. In addition to being much smaller than the oil sands deposits in Alberta, Canada, the U.S. oil sands are hydrocarbon-wet, whereas the Canadian oil sands are water-wet. As a result of this difference, extraction techniques for the Utah oil sands will be different than those used for the Alberta oil sands.