Oil or Tar sands is a colloquialism for what are technically described as bituminous
sands, and commonly known as oil sands or (in Venezuela) extra heavy oil. The sands are
naturally occurring mixtures of sand or clay, water and an extremely dense and viscous
form of petroleum called bitumen. They are found in large amounts in many countries
throughout the world, but are found in extremely large quantities in Canada and
Venezuela. The word tar to describe these deposits is a misnomer, since, chemically
speaking, tar is a man-made substance produced by the destructive distillation of organic
material, usually coal. The name tar sands was often applied to bituminous sands in the
late 19th and early 20th century since it resembled the tar residue produced in large
amounts as a by-product of the manufacture of coal gas for urban heating and lighting.
Since then, coal gas has almost completely been replaced by natural gas as a fuel, and
coal tar as a material for paving roads has been replaced by the petroleum product
asphalt. Naturally occurring bitumen is chemically more similar to asphalt than to tar,
and oil sands (or oilsands) is a more accurate term than tar sands because synthetic oil
is what is finally derived from the bitumen. See Also: Canadian Oil Sands
Mon, 14 May 2012 16:56:00 CDTViewed: 18 times. The Syncrude mine may not have been the first major oil operation in the Athabasca Oil Sands, but it was the second and it still stands as one of the region's dominant oil sand projects.
Mon, 14 May 2012 06:17:00 CDTViewed: 39 times. The Conservative party39s proposal for a rigorous overhaul of the Canadian energy and environment regulatory apparatus will come just in time to deal with the record number of new projects expected
Fri, 04 May 2012 07:55:12 CDTViewed: 138 times. Authorities in Alberta, Canada, filed a lawsuit against tar sands companies saying they've been keeping royalties out of provincial coffers.
Wed, 18 Apr 2012 08:52:16 CDTViewed: 127 times. President Barack Obama's decision in January to deny a permit for the full Keystone XL oilsands pipeline from Canada has paid dividends, with a political endorsement from four of the largest U.S. environmental groups.
Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:47:00 CDTViewed: 171 times. Shell Canada on Tuesday announced it purchased a 1,820 acre (740 ha) tract of land in northern Alberta to conserve boreal forest habitat near its oil sands operations.
Wed, 04 Apr 2012 19:13:41 CDTViewed: 245 times. The risk from tar sands is too high for local and state agencies to allow these synthetic oils and raw materials increasingly to flow into Washington refineries, say a group of environmentalists concerned about the health of Puget Sound.
Fri, 16 Mar 2012 01:35:00 CDTViewed: 70 times. Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. TSX ATH has closed the previously announced sale of its 40 interest in the MacKay River oil sands project to Cretaceous Oilsands Holdings Limited a wholly owned subsidia
Thu, 08 Mar 2012 01:50:00 CDTViewed: 60 times. Oilsands Quest Inc. NYSE Amex BQI has filed its Form 10Q Quarterly Report for the quarter ended January 31 2012 with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Management39s Discus
Wed, 07 Mar 2012 17:15:18 CDTViewed: 396 times. Alberta Premier Alison Redford is in Washington to speak to U.S. officials about the benefits of her province's oilsands project.
Tue, 06 Mar 2012 17:22:39 CDTViewed: 70 times. Canadian oil-sands producers are considering following Sunshine Oilsands Ltd. in raising capital on the Hong Kong stock exchange to take advantage of Asian energy demand, a lawyer working with the companies said.
