Oil Sands: A Better Understanding
Oil sands are a natural blend of sand and rock material which contains bitumen, an oil-based, viscous substance, which is extracted and processed. There are two different methods of producing oil from the oil sands: open-pit mining and in situ.
Open Pit mining uses large shovels to scoop the oil sand into trucks which is then thinned out with water and transported to a plant, where the bitumen is separated from the other components. Just 20 per cent of the oil sands are recoverable through open-pit mining.
The in situ method pumps steam underground to liquefy the bitumen, which is then pumped up to the surface through a well. This advanced way of extracting oil is very effective and reduces boreal forest disturbance.
Oil sands are a natural blend of sand and rock material which contains bitumen, an oil-based, viscous substance, which is extracted and processed. There are two different methods of producing oil from the oil sands: open-pit mining and in situ.
Open Pit mining uses large shovels to scoop the oil sand into trucks which is then thinned out with water and transported to a plant, where the bitumen is separated from the other components. Just 20 per cent of the oil sands are recoverable through open-pit mining.
The in situ method pumps steam underground to liquefy the bitumen, which is then pumped up to the surface through a well. This advanced way of extracting oil is very effective and reduces boreal forest disturbance.