The Oil Drum: On Low Quality Hydrocarbons

As most of us here know, the planet offers extremely large amounts of low quality hydrocarbons (LQHCs) that could, in principle, be converted to synthetic crude to displace conventional oil as it depletes. The major sources are tar sands (especially in Alberta), oil shale (especially in Colorado), and extra-heavy oil which will not flow readily (especially in the Orinoco region of Venezuela). Then there is also the possibility of converting coal to liquid hydrocarbons via the Fischer-Tropsch process.
A lot more of Stuart’s wisdom after the jump to The Oil Drum.