GEOL107 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Dilbit, Keystone Pipeline, Unconventional Oil
30 Dec 2018
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Document Summary
Oil in some reservoir rocks is extremely viscous (resistant to flow, like tar) - called. If it exists within pore spaces of reservoir rocks, up to 12% of volume of rock - called tar sands (or oil sands) Oil in tar sands cannot be directly pumped from the ground. Tar sands can be strip-mined and heated in furnace to extract oil (takes about 2 tons of tar sand to produce 1 barrel of oil) Or can pump steam (lot"s of water) or solvents (potential source of pollution) to liquefy oil enough to pump out. Keystone pipeline system transports processed oil and diluted bitumen form. Athabasca oil sands in northeastern alberta, canada to multiple destinations in. Us, including refineries in illinois and cushing oil distribution hub in oklahoma. Keystone xl pipeline proposed additional route and extension of system to refineries along gulf coast of texas - route is controversial (sparked protest) - energy vs. jobs vs. environment.
