Black Gold, Black Death

Oil Sands Frenzy in Canada

Record profits coupled with little or new regulation on an industry gone venally berserk and it’s off to the races once again in Canada as far as natural resources versus the health of the environment are concerned. This time the triggering mechanism is the tremendous oil reserve contained in Canada’s oil sands (or tar sands if you’re a traditionalist) deposits. Fueled by the US’s insatiable desire for gasoline, and its historical dependence on Canada, the current boom is only expected to escalate in profit-taking frenzy.

Skyrocketing prices for crude oil have started a rush that has turned the sands profitable. The industry has been producing oil for as little as $24 a barrel, creating huge profits when prices hit $70 a barrel or $60 or even $50.

The oil industry demanded, and was given, major tax breaks and sweetheart royalties by the provincial and federal governments for oil sands development. Under a new royalty schedule recently announced by the Alberta, companies will pay a minuscule one percent on oil sands production.

A report by conservation biologist Brian Horejsi of Western Wildlife Environments Consulting covers the magnitude of habitat fragmentation currently in Alberta from oil and gas development: over 225,000 wells have been drilled; one-million miles of seismic road access and over 300,000 miles of pipeline right-of-way have been cut; 450,000 of all-weather road access have been built. None this construction is or was subject to environmental assessment. Reserves at or near the surface are recovered through large-scale strip-mining. Huge mounds of oil sand are excavated and moved by trucks weighing 240 tons and standing three stories high. Two tons of sand produce one barrel of oil.

Counterpunch