- #1
- 8,143
- 1,761
...Alberta sits atop the biggest petroleum deposit outside the Arabian peninsula - as many as 300 billion recoverable barrels and another trillion-plus barrels that could one day be within reach using new retrieval methods. (By contrast, the entire Middle East holds an estimated 685 billion barrels that are recoverable.) But there's a catch. Alberta's black gold isn't the stuff that geysered up from Jed Clampett's backyard. It's more like a mix of Silly Putty and coffee grounds - think of the tar patties that stick to the bottom of your sandals at the beach - and it's trapped beneath hundreds of feet of clay and rock.
This petroleum dreck is known in these parts as heavy oil, and wildcatters are determined to get it out of the ground and into a pipeline. If they succeed, the stereotypical oil zillionaire may be not an Arabian emir but a folksy Albertan fond of ending sentences in a question, eh? ...
...Heavy oil isn't a new discovery. Native Americans have used it to caulk their canoes for centuries. Until recently, though, it's been the energy industry's stepchild - ugly, dirty, and hard to refine. But the political winds are favoring the heavy stuff, as "energy independence" - aka freedom from relying on Middle East oil - has become a war-on-terror buzz-phrase. Even President Bush has waxed optimistic about Alberta's "tar pits." [continued]
"The Trillion-Barrel Tar Pit" is a term used to describe a vast reserve of heavy crude oil located in the oil sands of Alberta, Canada. It is estimated that this reserve holds over a trillion barrels of oil, making it one of the largest oil reserves in the world.
The existence of "The Trillion-Barrel Tar Pit" was first identified in the 1960s through aerial surveys and later confirmed through drilling and extraction efforts. It was not until the 1990s that advances in technology made it possible to extract the oil from the tar sands on a large scale.
The extraction and processing of oil from "The Trillion-Barrel Tar Pit" has significant environmental impacts. It requires large amounts of water and energy, and the process of separating the oil from the sand produces large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions and toxic waste. Additionally, the development of this resource has led to deforestation and disruption of local ecosystems.
The development of "The Trillion-Barrel Tar Pit" has brought significant economic benefits to Canada, particularly the province of Alberta. It has created jobs and contributed to the country's GDP, and the revenue from oil production has been used for infrastructure and social programs. However, the economic benefits must be weighed against the environmental and social costs.
There is ongoing debate about the future of "The Trillion-Barrel Tar Pit" and its role in the global energy market. Some argue that it is a necessary resource to meet the world's growing energy demands, while others argue that it is a non-renewable and environmentally damaging source of energy that should be phased out. As technology and environmental concerns continue to evolve, the future of this oil reserve remains uncertain.