Oil Resources in Canada

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In today’s world humans are consuming massive amounts of fossil fuels. The top five oil consuming countries in the world are the usual suspects. These include the United States, China, Japan, India and Russia. Canada comes in at number 10 with a daily consumption of 2,287 thousand barrels per day. There are three major types of fossil fuels: coal, oil and natural gas. These resources were formed during the Carboniferous Period 360-286 million years ago. During this time earth was covered in swamps with large amounts of plants and waters filled with algae. When these plants and trees began to die they would form layers of peat. Hundreds and thousands of years would pass adding sand and other materials on top of the peat. This formed the sedimentary rocks we know today. As the thousands of years turned into millions of years the water of the peat layer was pushed out of the peat until the layer of diatoms turned into coal, oil or natural gas (CEC, 2013). Canada has oil industry throughout the country and currently 12 out of 13 provinces are active in the oil industry. Natural gas production is occurring in British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, and New Brunswick. Natural gas could also become large industry in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Oil production is currently taking place in the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland & Labrador (CAPP, 2013).

Coal is one of the world’s most abundant fossil fuels. Coal was formed during the Carboniferous Period when dead plant material was buried and subjected to high pressure and heat. Coal is classified by moisture content and composition. There are four d...

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...a.ca/OilSands/793.asp

Oil Sands Today. Accessed 2013.

http://www.oilsandstoday.ca/whatareoilsands/Pages/RecoveringtheOil.aspx

Koster, Vera. 2013/02/05. What is shale gas? How does fracking work?. Chemistry Views. http://www.chemistryviews.org/details/education/1316813/What_is_Shale_Gas_How_Does_Fracking_Work.html

FracFocus. 2013. Hydraulic fracturing: the process. Frac Focus.

http://fracfocus.org/hydraulic-fracturing-how-it-works/hydraulic-fracturing-process

Jenkins, Scott. 2012. Frac water reuse. Chemical Engineering. 119(2):14-16.

Grottenhaler, David. 2011. Recycling water for hydraulic fracturing. Mechanical Engineering. 133(12):21-24.

Canadian Energy Pipeline Association. Accessed 2013.

http://www.cepa.com/about-pipelines/economic-benefits-of-pipelines/economic-facts

Trans Canada. Accessed 2013.

http://keystone-xl.com/about/the-project/

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