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Canadian Oil in Sand

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Tony302600

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the tar sands. so it pretty much goes like this, we have shitloads of oil trapped in the sand all over northern alberta and saskatchewan. we have billions of dollars worth of infastructure and manpower pulling this crap out of the ground and seperating it from the sand. we pollute and spend like crazy to get this done(but money is no object), then our government takes it up the ass so the oil companies can make more money, and very little of the profit actually comes back to us. then all the partially refined oil is shipped to the u.s.. then it is further refined and sold back to us(we bend over here again too, no lube even) and then we pay out the ass for a product that came out of our own back yard.

 

but on the bright side, there are a shitload of lifted superduties around here to break down.

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I should refraze that al ittle. I was only trying to point out the fact that we are not the only poluters and that other folks and nations have a hand in this as well.

 

But, let me ask this: what else are you going to do with an oil soaked soil? I agree that we should look for a better way to refine, but at the same time most of these critcs are purchasing the byproducts of this mess to support their own way of life.

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Yeah, but they bend us yanks over just as badly if it makes you feel any better.

Jeff... you need to remember that we are paying more than you are for, quite probably, something that was ours to begin with...

 

The oil sands... yes, claiming this prize from the soil is quite a process... rest assured that business wouldn't be doing it if there weren't a profit to be had. The higher the price that conventional oil draws, the more profit there is to be made from heavy oil.

 

Consider this... not all crude oils are created equal. An oil used as a benchmark when pricing oil would be "west Texas sweet". This is a light oil.. it is considered "sweet" because it can be recovered without the danger of "sour (well) gas" - Hydrogen sulphide (H2S and all I can really suggest is that you check Wikipedia for the full skinny...) is bad kharma... many "old" wells can eventually turn sour... some are sour from the git-go.

 

Some wells deliver their bounty quite easily... flowing several barrels a day with little in the way of outside action. Other wells require pumpjacks or downhole jet pumps - some require steam or water injection... some wells get shut in when the price of oil gets too low because they fail to be profitable.

 

Oil and gas production are a vast and complex industry... whether a hole needs to be "fracc'd" or "perforated" or some other downhole operation needs to be performed...

 

Shall we consider an open pit coal mine - just another source of carboniferous energy? From the air it looks like we've raped the landscape (much like clear cut logging, oil sands exploration, diamond mines (ask Aaron what Diavik looks like from the air) and two of the most insidious abuses of land known to man.... the shopping mall and the housing development). Does an underground coal mine sound more pallatable? Check out Centralia, Pennsylvania... That one's been on fire for nearly 50 years...

 

There is no tasteful way to develop energy reserves... We do what we can and attempt to control our "emissions" while we are doing it.... We use what we have while we research replacements and improvements.

 

And here's where the really blatant surge is going to come.

 

The Otto-cycle engine is a thing of the past... or should be. But it isn't and we are researching alternatives and improvements in the meantime.... So, for now, we must depend on oil reserves... and, for now, we depend on emission control technology to reduce the side effects of this petrochemical dependance....

 

Whoops!?!?!? Did I say we depend on emissions controls? My bad.... we depend on responsible, professional automotive technicians to ensure that these emissions control devices are active and working as intended... unfortunately, most have the mistaken idea that "good fuel mileage" is what we need for clean air. Good fuel mileage comes from high combustion chamber temps... the same place that big emissions come from. (whoa... that is a baaaad generalization... but I hope it worked).

 

Anyway... yes... the oil sands are a dirty deal.... but, at this stage of the game, they are a necessary evil.... just like EGR valves and DPFs and all manner of other stuff we disagree with....

 

It's about time to turn off the little head and let the big one have a turn....

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Check out this load of crap: http://ca.news.finance.yahoo.com/s/08122...un-30-cent.html

 

It is true that we payer higher prices than folks down in the U.S. But read the story and then explain how we can ship the fuel from Canada and have the U.S pay less based on what the loser for the Petrolium institute is saying.

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