Oil Sands Question and Response (OSQAR) Blog

Getting the most out of our water

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There’s no shortage of good-intentioned inventors who claim they’ve discovered technologies that will 'solve' the key oil sands development challenges. These technologies look at new techniques for dealing with tailings liquid so it doesn’t have to be stored as long in ponds, new solvents that would replace steam for in situ oil sands extraction and new methods of filtering process water so it can be re-used.

There’s a lot happening beneath the surface

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The oil sands industry is spending millions of dollars on technologies that may never see the light of day – literally.

SAGD in a nutshell

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In a new short animation that explores a “different kind of oil sands”, Cenovus explains the steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) drilling method in which steam is used to help recover oil buried deep underground.

Suncor's In Situ operations also use SAGD technology in the Wood Buffalo region to collect this hard-to-reach oil.

'Twas the night before Christmas: A Suncor parody

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(With apologies to Clement Clarke Moore)

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the site,
The conveyor belts were whirring, all through the night.
The hard hats were hung in the lunch room with care,
In hopes that the bus back to town would soon be there.

How an in situ facility is like an all-inclusive vacation resort

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What’s the difference between an all-inclusive vacation resort and a steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) in situ oil sands facility? Not a lot, really. Both are hot and steamy, involve copious amounts of oil and operate a full schedule of activities around the clock.

Seeing the forest for the trees

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With this year being the UN International Year of Forests (see UN Forests 2011), we thought it would be appropriate to look at oil sands development’s impact on Alberta’s boreal forest.  (2011 also happens to be the Year of the Rabbit, but try as we might, we can’t yet think of a good reason to talk about small, fluffy creatures).

In Situ Oil Sands: Mining’s Hotter, Younger Sibling

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There’s a popular misconception that oil sands equals mining. Not true. There are two types of development:Mining, which has been around for about four decades and is what people tend to think of first when oil sands projects are mentioned. Then there’s a newer method of drilling for the oil-in situ (Latin term meaning “in place”).