Most people think that oil is mined only from hard rock foundations. What some people may not know is that oil deposits can also be found in sand. This is called by many names – tar sands, bituminous sands and, more commonly, oil sands.
Oil is extracted from oil sands with the use of one or more different types of mining techniques. Surface mining is the commonly used style in Canada and Venezuela, while most of the California oil sands utilize the CSS or cyclic steam stimulation method. However, experts consider SAGD or steam assisted gravity drainage, which is in some ways similar to a vapor extraction process, as a more cost-effective method to be used for extracting oil. Cold flow and toe to heel air injection (THAI) are the other forms of oil sand mining.
One of the places in the world today known for its presence of large volumes of oil sands is Canada, where the Peace River, Cold Lake and Athabasca river oil sands are found. All three are located in Alberta in Canada. The largest among them is the Athabasca Oil Sands, where crude oil is extracted with the use of surface mining techniques. Oil sands found in this area were believed to be used by Canadian settlers even before modern technology set in. The oil sands were considered to be officially discovered in 1788.
Another country known for its oil sands is Venezuela, particularly by the Orinoco River. The Middle East, an important region when it comes to oil supply, also has oil sands, as well as parts of the United States of America, particularly in Utah, and some parts of the Russia. All in all, about 70 countries have oil sand deposits.
These countries benefit from the economic impact of extracting oil from oil sands. The same set of countries, however, are under criticism for the environmental impact of oil sand mining, which includes the heavy use of natural gas and the alteration of the natural landscape where oil sands are found.