No doubt about it. Canada has become an energy giant. Maybe the US will reconsider its boneheaded (Senator Leahy's words, not mine...see other thread) Canada-US border policies....maybe Canada will say screw you for not paying attention to Canadian concerns when the Yanks figured they could get away with it.....the two ARE linked after all.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...pson19/BNStory

The massive oil sands that lie throughout northern Alberta, with Fort McMurray as the urban epicentre, are pouring money into Alberta's coffers, widening the spread between its fiscal wealth and that of all other provinces.

The oil sands are pouring money into the federal treasury, helping it to show surpluses, which in turn are eyed by provinces and interest groups. They are pouring contracts into other provinces, spreading at least some of the wealth elsewhere in Canada.

They are pouring profits into shareholders' pockets of energy companies.

They are pouring oil into the market, especially the United States, at the very moment when Alberta's sources of conventional oil and natural gas are declining.

Canada produces about 2.5-million barrels of crude oil daily, and ships about 1.6-million to the U.S. To keep that level of exports, let alone to expand it, the oil sands are critical.

One estimate, accepted by the local chamber of commerce, suggests $125-billion of oil sands investment will flow into the municipality of Wood Buffalo that extends northward from Fort McMurray in the next decade. Edmonton is anticipating about $30-billion of oil sands investment money. And there will be billions more in the Cold Lake and Peace River Oil Sands area.

The Fort McMurray area is therefore the most robust economic engine in the western world. The vacancy rate for housing is zero. About a thousand people are waiting for some kind of social housing. People are doubling up in units. This spring, again according to the local chamber, the average cost of a house in Fort McMurray surpassed that of Toronto.

Labour is in short supply. Workers are being flown in daily from Edmonton. People are migrating from Newfoundland, other Atlantic Canadian provinces, Northern Ontario, Saskatchewan; in short, from wide swaths of Canada. Air Canada put on a daily flight to Toronto, while it cuts non-stop flights in other parts of hinterland Canada.

There are 69 oil sands projects in various states of operation or development in northern Alberta. They now produce about 1.1-million barrels of oil per day, or a little under half of the country's daily production. That share will rise.

Hey if you think you can make this work it is after all your oil. Personally I would be happy to see it, since it would spur our own development of the far larger shale oil project. Bottom line is though it won't happen, so this is yet another idle threat from friend bailey.

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The universe grows smaller every day and the threat of aggression by any group anywhere can no longer be tolerated. There must be security for all or no one is secure... - Klaatu

It's amazing isn't it. They can't find enough people to work there either. People at fast food restaurants are making $15+ an hour when in most other provinces it is ~$6.80/hr.

I also heard that employers are buying hotels and other buildings to house their employees because of the vacancy rate.

Many companies are now looking at ways to ivert some of the employment to other provinces so that the wages won't compete directly as they are in Fort Mac currently. I'm curious to see how it pans out in the end. Whether there will be a balance or a bust. Time will tell.

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Two-thirds of the world's lawyers practice in the US

I've been around since "Buy American" meant "Made in the USA".

I live in Alberta and im positive that the oil sands will pan out. The local Industry is going crazy and the way oil prices are going, the oil sands are becoming a better and better investment.

HMM, shades of 1849, A CANADIAN blackGOLD RUSH

Yep, you've got that right.

It IS working (OBVIOUSLY, did you actually read the article?). Oil Shale, Oil Schmale - not even on the radar. Sitting in rock the last time I checked, as it has been for the last billion years or so....good luck with that. Meanwhile you are already buying half of the oil produced in the oil sands.

Bailey I meant if you think you can make your threat of withholding oil over the obrder issue work.

Actually there are already issues on this front. China is looking to take ownership in Cnadian oil intersts. This clearly will make the US nervous and since the strategic supply the US thought it might have had may in fact go east, although not due to any of the reasons bailey is so fond of spouting with regularity, that will spur development of the shale oil. A second problem for Canada is its lack of additional refining capacity. Right now Canada's refineries are operating at around 90% capacity, which leaves very little room to refine all the new oil. As a result canada will have to, in the short term anyway, sell its oil at lower prices as an unrefined product. Finally the process used to get the oil from the oil sands is a slow process and until technology speeds it up that and the lack of refining capacity is not likely to really replace already existing supplies any time soon.

Personally, I am all in favor of anything that spurs the development of the shale oil fields. So if Canadian shale oil intersts were to be bought out by the Chinese government that would not be to problematic as far as I am concerned. Further the shale oil once it is exploited can be obtained for anywhere between $25 and $30 US per barrel. The oil sands comes in at around $35 US per barrel. The shale oil using the in situ process will produce 3.5 units of energy for every 1 unit expended to get it. I have been unable to find a simular figure for the oil sands.

Finally extracting both the shale oil and oil sand product is a dirty business with considerable environmental concerns. Canada is at a disadvantage in this area since it has singed and ratified Kyoto. The US has no such restrictions. I am not stating whether this is right or wrong, merely pointing out an additional cost factor for canada should the governmemt decide it must adhere to Kyoto. Of course they can always decide to pull out also. Lastly the projections I have seen is that it is likely to take 20% of Canadas total LP production to operate the oil sand extraction facilities. This will also have to be taken into consideration since it is even colder in Canada than it is here and that is likely to have a negative effect of the price of heating ones home. In southwestern Ontario before this even really gets underway it cost the average homeowner and additional $250, and in eastern and norther Ontario $300, to heat their home this year according to a January CBC News Indepth article. In Manitoba an additional $201 in 2005. That was all due to increased worldwide demand. What do you think will happen when 20% of your total gas production is taken off the market? Sure it will affect us as well, but it will be your own people that demand something be done from Ottawa. It is likely that our citizens will also demand some action from Washington depending on the increases. Since a lot of US and Canadian power plants have and are continuing to switch from coal to gas this will only excacerbate the problem.

So yes bailey crow about the oil sands. Let the Chinese buy significant interests in it, and by all means sell it to them before us. All you are doing is cutting off your nose to spite your face. We all know that the US if and when it gets serious about the shale oil will produce it, it will be a higher quality product according to the information I have read requiring less refining and will be longer lasting since it is a larger field. More importantly it will force us to finally spend some serious money on the next generation technology so we will become the Saudi Arabia of the energy future.

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The universe grows smaller every day and the threat of aggression by any group anywhere can no longer be tolerated. There must be security for all or no one is secure... - Klaatu

So is it more expensive to get oil out of oil sand than pumping it up from the ground?

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Jesus was a communist!

Absolutely because of environmental issues and the fact that you have to turn it into oil like you pump out of the ground to refine it so there is an added step.

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The universe grows smaller every day and the threat of aggression by any group anywhere can no longer be tolerated. There must be security for all or no one is secure... - Klaatu

Approximately 20-30 times more expensive than Saudi light crude. Only about 4 or 5 times more expensive than US domestic oil drilling.

And certainly profitable at prices above $60 USD per barrel.

Btw, I understand the USA is looking into developing their oil-shale lands (not unlike Canada's tar-sands).

You are right. That is the main reason we get when we ask why we can't be dependant on our own oil and why we have to deal with the Mid-East. North America should be looking after its own and dealing with just our oil. But apparently the cost would be too much. Almost a catch 22.

Yep and it is profitable at between $25.00 and $30.00 per barrel.

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The universe grows smaller every day and the threat of aggression by any group anywhere can no longer be tolerated. There must be security for all or no one is secure... - Klaatu

Actually Suncor is making money when the oil is above $30 per barrel as they have greatly lowered the cost per barrel over the last twenty years. So I take serious issue with your figures MM. Check your sources or post them.

You should thank your lucky stars that we are taking extra steps as you put it since you are the ones buying most of it in the end. It's to the US's benefit that we are doing this. Otherwise you'd be hooped.