Unconventional Oil Reserves in and Around the US
Tar sand. (image: Suncor Energy Inc. via ostseis.anl.gov)
by Steve Zweig
The United States has greater oil reserves than Saudi Arabia? Canada with the world’s largest reserves? Welcome to the world of unconventional oil. Unconventional or non-conventional oil is oil collected by other means than simply drilling for it. The two greatest potential sources of unconventional oil are from tar sands and oil shale. Oil from these sources that is recoverable using today’s technology would double world oil reserves—and if most of the oil bound up in them could ever be tapped, it would triple or quadruple the amount of oil available.
Total vs. Possible vs. Practical
There are three different ways of looking at the size of oil reserves:
• Oil in place is the total amount of oil, without regard to the cost or technology necessary to get at it.
• Technically recoverable oil is oil we can get at—it’s within the reach of existing technology—but doesn’t take into account whether it is economically worth it.
• Economically recoverable oil is cost effective to extract and process. Of course, “cost effective” is a continuum, not a point: what makes economic sense is very different at crude oil prices of $40 per barrel, $80 per barrel, or $120 per barrel. Also, what is economically recoverable depends on technology as well—as technology improves and becomes more widespread (creating economies of scale), price drops. Cost reductions of 50 – 75% over 20 years are feasible.
Oil in tar sands and oil shale is oil in place: it’s there. For the most part, it’s technically recoverable: even though there is R&D being done to come up with better ways to unlock it, we know we can do it. The big issue is whether it’s economically recoverable oil. In answering that question, you need to look beyond the cost in dollars and cents and consider as well the environmental cost. Unconventional oil is a vast potential resource that is more expensive to produce than conventional oil; releases more greenhouse gases; requires more energy and water to produce; and produces more waste. All these costs must be borne in mind.
Tar Sands: Resources to Our North and South
Tar sand (also known as “oil sand”) is a mixture of sand and a thick, tarry oil called bitumen. Bitumen is petroleum or oil, but it is too thick and viscous to flow or be used for heat and power and must first be processed.
There are tar sands in the United States, primarily in Eastern Utah. It’s estimated that the in-place oil in Utah tar sands amounts to 12 to 19 billion barrels.
However, U.S. tar sand oil reserves are dwarfed by those of Canada and Venezuela. Venezuela’s in-place deposits in the Orinoco Belt are projected to be up to 1,200 billion (that’s 1.2 trillion) barrels, with over 200 billion barrels technically recoverable. Canada’s reserves are believed to be even larger, with in-place Alberta reserves projected at 1,700 – 2,500 billion (1.7 – 2.5 trillion) barrels and recoverable reserves of at least 174 billion barrels. For comparison, in 2008, it was estimated that Saudi Arabia’s total oil reserves were a bit under 270 billion barrels.
US Oil Production Rise in 2009 No Game-Changer | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] oil wells, and/or refinement techniques outside of those used for lighter grades of oil. As we’ve previously discussed, the methods of producing unconventional oil are economically feasible only when prices are very [...]
Exxon’s Announcement of Huge Oil Reserves Not an Indictment of Peak Oil | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] announcement must include a distinction between conventional and unconventional oil and gas. Unconventional oil is non-liquid oil bound up in a separate medium—tar sands constitute sticky and relatively dirty [...]
Report of $2.4 Trillion Worth of US Oil & Gas Reserves Deserves Closer Scrutiny | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] and the document itself are the types of oil sources included in the total reserve calculations. As previously explained on HeatingOil.com, proven liquid oil reserves are very different from “unconventional reserves,” a moniker [...]
Economist Jeff Rubin Talks $225 Oil by 2012 and the End of the Global Economy | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] oil fields drops off, it will have to be replaced by supplies from dirtier, harder-to-process unconventional sources like the tar sands of Alberta, Canada. Because the processing of unconventional sources is so [...]
A Glossary of Heating Oil Terms | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Oil: A type of unconventional oil, shale oil is derived from oil shale, a sedimentary rock that contains a solid oil “precursor” called [...]
Oil Sands Licenses Yield High Sales in Alberta’s Auction | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] improved technology to drill for unconventional oil and rising oil prices mean that where most oil companies once saw a headache, they are beginning to [...]
Opinion: Energy Consultants Predict Zero-Carbon Economy by 2050 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] satisfy investors, oil companies will be forced to go after riskier, dirtier substitutes like the Canadian Tar Sands, gas-to-liquid options in Qatar, or coal-to-liquid options in China and elsewhere. These prospects [...]
US “Oil” Reserves Are World’s Largest, Depending on View | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] you look at technically recoverable oil, including unconventional oil resources such as oil shale (which has yet to be economically extracted in the US), the US has 166.7 billion [...]
Big Oil Haggles with Interior Dept. Over Terms of Oil Shale Leases | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Washington Post. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said that companies interested in tapping oil shale reserves can only do so on 160-acre tracts, with the ability to expand to 640 acres at a later date. The [...]
Black Gold on the White Frontier: the Race for Arctic Oil | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] to work) Arctic field will produce oil at a cost of $37 per barrel. This is a lot more than Middle East oil, which can cost as little as $5 per barrel. And that’s $37 per barrel after you know where the oil is, and how much there is of it—the [...]
Profile of an Oil Producer: Canada | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Peak Oil: A BreakdownBiofuel Heating OilCFTC Report Will Blame Speculators for Oil Price Spike, New Regulations LikelyCFTC Announces Plans for Tighter Controls on Speculation; Heating Oil Prices Could be Affected Unconventional Oil Reserves in and Around the US [...]
Oil Leases on Utah Public Lands Cancelled by Interior Dept | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] fossil fuel industry and reduce potential U.S. oil and gas production, including: • Withdrawing leases of federal land for the development of oil shale resources • Proposing an end to subsidies for the fossil [...]
US Oil Imports from Canada Hit New High in July | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] allowed for the rise, and pipeline expansion will increase US imports from Canada even further. Tar sands and other unconventional sources of oil are sometimes controversial, but have been used to meet demand at a time when OPEC countries have cut back on their exports to [...]
NRDC’s Suit to Block Canada-US Oil Pipeline Thrown Out | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] The reason for the proliferation of pipelines is the projected growth in oil production from Canada’s tar sands It is expected that daily production from these sands will rise by 1.8 million barrels by [...]
Academic Michael Klare Predicts Long, Dirty, Expensive Transition to Era of Renewable Energy | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] 2030, which is three times the amount they produce today. According to an article on HeatingOil.com, oil sands, also called tar sands, are tough to extract, and must be heavily refined to be used as o…. Klare points to tar sands as one of the energy sources that will be used during the Era of [...]
Sunoco Sells Retail Heating Oil Operations to Canadian Firm | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] Plus, located in the same region as the massive Alberta tar sands project, sells fuel, specialty chemicals, and building supplies to commercial, industrial, [...]
US State Dept. Approves Pipeline to Bring Canadian Oil to Midwest Refineries | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] While the State Department is hailing the project as advancing in the strategic interests of the United States, environmental groups are not pleased. An international coalition of environmental and Native American groups call the crude product “the dirtiest oil on earth.” Indeed, according to an August HeatingOil.com article producing oil from tar sands “releases around 1.5 ti… [...]
Coal Liquification: America’s Untapped Oil Resource? | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] estimated at almost 1 trillion tons, the equivalent of 4.4 billion barrels of oil. Even including potential reserves of unconventional oil, coal is still the most common fossil [...]