About The History of The Alberta Oil Sands
You may have heard that the Alberta oil sands are the place to invest and with good reason. This region of Canada contains a very large amount of oil, second in the world in terms of size only to Saudi Arabia. While this is true, it is relatively a new discovery in terms of the amount available. A look at the history of the oil sands will show you why so many do not know it is even there.
The First People
The Athabasca oil sands, which is the formal name for these Canadian oil sands is after the river that runs through the region. The first people to benefit from the sands were the Cree and Dene Aboriginal people that lived in the regions centuries ago. When you visit the river itself, you’ll see why. At the banks, there is a deposit of heavy oil naturally located there. These aboriginal people would use the deposits of oil to slick their canoes, therefore waterproofing them. Later, in 1719, the Europeans would encounter the oil here, as they were trading furs.
The Government’s Involvement
After years of investigating, in 1875, John Macoun did a government sponsored survey of the region to learn more about the oil sands. In 1883, the Geological Survey of Canada worked to separate the bitumen from the oil sands, which they accomplished easily with the use of water. It was five years later that the first declaration of just how large this area and the oil here was, was made.
In 1926, a man from the University of Alberta, named Doctor Karl Clark created a method of separating the bitumen from the sands with steam. This is the first application of steam used and is the forerunner of the system used today to extract the bitumen. The process today is a thermal extraction process.
Commercialization
It took many years for the perfecting of the process and the Canadian oil sands did not see its first commercial operation in the region until 1967. At that time, the Great Canadian Oil Sands Company opened and began the process of separating the oil sands. This company is Suncor.
Over time, the Alberta oil sands have developed into one of the most promising resources available to North America. While the technology is not available, as of yet, to mine all of this potential reserve, many are working on it. Additionally, due to government regulations as well as environmental concerns, the process of removing and using the bitumen from the Alberta oil sands will continue to be very difficult. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that a large amount of highly valuable oil is located here and that it will be a player in the world’s supply.
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