BP's Oil Sands Project

BP is intending to maintain its production of oil by concentrating on deep water drilling and developing unconventional resources such as shale oil, shale gas and oil sands (tar sands).

The oil sands project is called Project Sunrise and is based in Alberta, Canada. It should be approved later in the year, and is one of 42 fields which will help replace current production. BP is also intending to boost production in the Gulf of Mexico and Russia.

Oil Sands are clay and sand fields saturated with bitumen. They are a major resource in many parts of the world, but untapped because the bitumen is relatively difficult to extract. The normal method is open cast mining. The mined material is injected with steam, and the bitumens and hydrocarbons are slowly given off. Further processing is necessary before these compounds can be used as fuels.

The process is more expensive than petroleum extraction, and leaves huge scars across the landscape, but using deposits like this will increase the diversity of the world's energy supply, which is probably a good thing. No-one likes monopolies.

The Canadian oil sands fields are enormous, covering an area in Alberta about the same size as England. BP announced its intention to invest in the oil sands in December 2007, when it swapped $5 billion of assets with US corporation Husky Energy. This gave a 50% share in Sunrise, and production should begin in 2014.

N.D., habitat21

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