Costs to recover the oil sands are now in the $10-12 range. Obviously higher
than conventional oil, and much higher than the ~$3-4 Saudi costs, however,
the large reserve and reliable supply makes it more attractive for the North
American market.

Andy von Busse

-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf
Of Peter Kurilecz
Sent: March 18, 2005 12:23 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Fairest state

On Fri, 18 Mar 2005 12:40:28 -0600, Lyons, Sherry A
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> If Alberta has more oil than Saudi Arabia, why are we paying so much for
> gasoline and hopping to OPEC's tune?
>


technically Alberta has more oil than Saudi Arabia, but it is not as
easy to recover as the Saudi crude. Alberta's oil is what is known as
oil sands. a very tight formation that has a very high recovery cost.
Saudi oil costs about $5 a barrel to pull out of the ground, while the
recovery cost for Alberta tar sands is about $30 per barrel

see the following articles
http://www.energybulletin.net/1894.html

http://www.geotimes.org/nov02/feature_oil.html

another factor is that Saudi crude aka Saudi light, saudi sweet is a
low sulfur oil. EPA rules require that sulfur emissions be reduced. it
is easier to do when the raw material doesn't contain very much

those are but two factors involved in the cost of oil



--
Peter Kurilecz
Richmond, Va

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