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[beemer33]

Interesting article - states that the US currently gets 1m bbl/day from from Canadian oil sands. Says the technology is much more efficient today than even a few years ago.

Oil sands fuel energy security
Canadian source guards Detroit from supply interruptions
Mark Perry

Detroit News Online (June 23, 2009)

...Canada's oil sands hold an estimated 170 billion barrels of oil that can be recovered with existing technology and as much as 1.7 trillion barrels -- more than five times the size of Saudi Arabia's reserves -- that could be produced with the use of new methods that are being developed.

As the only non-OPEC source with the capability for large production growth during the next several years, oil sands have the potential to reduce the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' revenues, weakening the cartel and those members that often undertake policies hostile to U.S. interests, the council said.

Canada is already America's leading oil supplier. More than 2 million barrels a day -- half of it oil from oil sands -- is shipped from Canada through a network of pipelines directly to Midwest refineries, where it is processed into gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products.

By getting more of their oil from Canada, refineries in the Midwest are moving from being at the back of the crude oil supply line to the front. With these secure supplies, Midwest refineries are not as vulnerable to supply disruptions from overseas producers or hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico.

If oil sands development is expanded, it would be possible to double or even triple the amount of oil the United States obtains from Canada by 2035. Quite apart from enhancing U.S. energy security, this oil will be needed to meet a projected increase in demand and offset declining production in existing oil fields.

It is an ambitious goal, but it is achievable. Technological improvements and new methods in oil sands production have reduced per-barrel emissions of carbon dioxide 27 percent since 1990, the Canadian government says.

At the same time, we are trying to get the most out of the energy we currently produce. And the oil industry is rapidly developing and commercializing production technologies that they know can work. The average amount of steam used today per unit of oil output from the Canadian sands is half of what it was in 2000, and the technology is expected to continue to improve.

Mark Perry is a professor of finance and business economics at the University of Michigan-Flint. E-mail: [e-mail]. See more opinions at detnews.com/editorial.