From: michael a. lebowitz (mlebowit@SFU.CA)
Date: Tue Jan 24 2006 - 18:13:02 EST
A major difference between the Alberta oil sands and the heavy oil
deposits in Venezuela's Orinoco Belt is temperature; for the latter,
it averages 53C (and the resource tends to be liquid) whereas for the
former it is about 11C (and tends to be solid).
michael
At 12:30 24/01/2006, you wrote:
>New techniques have been developed, and are to be used in the Orinoco to
>extract such venezuelan oil. Reports from the PDVSA explain this.
>
>Paul Bullock
>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Jerry Levy" <Gerald_A_Levy@MSN.COM>
>To: <OPE-L@SUS.CSUCHICO.EDU>
>Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 2:44 PM
>Subject: Re: [OPE-L] Oil Sands
>
>
> > > From my reading of literature on the oil sands during the 1975 oil
> > > crisis my recollection was that the high costs came from the work
> > > that had to be done to extract the oil from the sands, and the greater
> > > degree of refining needed. As I understand it, oil sands or shales
> > > need to be baked in a process analogous to the reforming of coal
> > > into oil. It is this baking that is costly.
> > > It also means that a significant part of the energy in the oil sands
> > > has to be expended in the processing itself. Another cost comes
> > > from the relatively lower hydrogen content of the oil and possibly
> > > its high sulphur content. This makes it less suitable for the
> > > light oils need for cars, but it remains suitable for heavy fuel oil.
> >
> > Hi Paul C,
> >
> > Haven't there been any technological breakthroughs in the
> > extraction of the oil from the sands and the refining process since
> > the mid-1970s?
> >
> > In solidarity, Jerry
> >
> >
Michael A. Lebowitz
Professor Emeritus
Economics Department
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6
Currently based in Venezuela. Can be reached at
Residencias Anauco Suites
Departamento 601
Parque Central, Zona Postal 1010, Oficina 1
Caracas, Venezuela
(58-212) 573-4111
fax: (58-212) 573-7724
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