Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
History of Development
Role of Industry and Government
U.S. Oil Sands
Interest in U.S. oil sand deposits dates back to the 1930s. Throughout the 1960s and
1970s, 52 pilot projects involving mining and in-situ techniques were supported by the U.S.
government in collaboration with major oil companies such as Conoco, Phillips Petroleum,
Gulf Oil, Mobil, Exxon, Chevron, and Shell. Several steam-assisted technologies were being
explored for in-situ production. These sources have had little economic potential as oil
supply. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-58), however, established a public lands
leasing program for oil sands and oil shale[17] R&D.
Based on the Canadian experience with oil sands production, it was established that
commercial success in mining oil sands is a function of the ratio of overburden to oil sand
thickness.[18] This ratio should not exceed one. In other words, the thickness of the overlying
rock should not be greater than the thickness of the sand deposit. It was estimated by the
USGS that only about 15% of the U.S. resource base has a ratio of one or less.
Major development obstacles to the U.S. oil sands resource base include remote and
difficult topography, scattered deposits, and the lack of water for in-situ production (steam
recovery and hot water separation) or undeveloped technology to extract oil from U.S.
“hydrocarbon-wetted” deposits.[19] The Canadian technology may not be suited for many
U.S. deposits. In Texas, deposits were considered by Conoco Oil to be too viscous to produce
in-situ. A Bureau of Mines experiment with oil sands production in Kentucky proved to be
commercially infeasible. In Utah, there were attempts at commercial production over the past
three decades by several oil companies but projects were considered uneconomic and
abandoned. As of 2004, some oil sands were being quarried on Utah state lands for asphalt
used in road construction, and a small amount of production is taking place in California.[20]
“Since the 1980s there has been little production for road material and no government
funding of oil sands R&D,” according to an official at the Department of the Interior.[21]
A 2006 conference on oil sands held at the University of Utah indicated renewed interest
in U.S. oil sands but reiterated the development challenges mentioned above. Speakers also
pointed out new technologies on the horizon that are being tested in Utah.[22] Conference
organizers concurred that long-term research and development funding and huge capital
development costs would be needed to demonstrate any commercial potential of U.S. oil sand
deposits. A recent report[23] on U.S. unconventional fuels (an interagency and multistate
collaboration) makes a number of general recommendations (for the development of oil sands
and other unconventional fuels), which include economic incentives, establishing a regulatory
framework, technology R&D, and an infrastructure plan. A recommendation specific to oil
sands calls for closer U.S. collaboration with the government of Alberta to better understand
Canadian oil sands development over the last 100 years. The report's task force estimates that
based on a “measured” or “accelerated” development pace scenario,[24] U.S. oil sand
production could reach 340,000-352,000 barrels per day by 2025.[25]
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