Understanding Alberta's Bitumen Resources

Marsh, Richard A.¹ (1) Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, Calgary, AB

A sizeable portion of the world's hydrocarbon endowment consists of non-conventional oil. In Canada, it mostly takes the form of bitumen (extra heavy oil that will not flow to a well under normal reservoir conditions) in clastic reservoirs (oil sands). Large quantities exist in Alberta with much smaller amounts in western Saskatchewan. The majority of Alberta's bitumen occurs in oil sands – the generic term used to describe bitumen locked in unconsolidated to poorly consolidated sand. Significant quantities also exist within underlying carbonates that are in contact with the sands. Bitumen is known to occur in eleven different horizons and its extent is legally defined by the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) in 15 Oil Sand Deposit (OSD) orders which are grouped together by 3 Oil Sands Area (OSA) orders.