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Period: to
Oil Sands were Surveyed by the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC)
The first government-sponsored survey of the oil sands was initiated in 1875 by John Macoun. -
Tar Sands are along the Athabasca River in Alberta.
This is a geological survey of the Tar Sands along the Athabasca River. -
Karl Clark patents the process of hot water separation.
Karl Clark concentrated on developing the hot water method of separating the oil sands and he found out when mixed with hot water, the oil sands separates into layers, with the most dense—the sand—sinking to the bottom, and the least dense—the water—rising to the top. -
Abasand Commercial Production
Abasand Oils Ltd., the first commercial oil project, begins producing diesel from the oil sands, producing about 2,500 barrels of oil. -
Destruction of the Abasand Production
A forest fire detroyed the plant and it never got rebuilt. -
Esso started the Cold Lake Project
Cold Lake operations is the largest thermal in-situ heavy oil operation in the world. -
First Suncor Production
This was the first Suncor production in New Norway, Alberta which had 32,000 barrels/day producing. -
Truck and Shovel Technology
The truck and shovel techonology was developed to make a more efficient way to shovel the mines and transpot the oil. They had to cut workers since this was more efficient to use. -
First Commercial Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) for in situ drilling
Using steam extraction for the oilsands means that almost anything above a reservoir can be left intact. There is no need for waste ponds because the sand is left underground and most of the water recovered from the bitumen can be cleaned with distillation for reuse. -
Oil Sands Milestone! Reached production of 1,000,000 barrels/day
The Oil Sands Production has now reached 1,000,000 barrels/day produced and it's predicted that in 2018, the production will be about 3 million barrels/day.
