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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: energyplay who wrote (6713)	5/24/2006 9:09:07 AM
From: Bid Buster	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 217749

Oil sands is also very water intensive, The BTU's required to make one BTU of product has been open for debate with the people I know, but it ranges between 2-1 and 3-1. And then there is environmental impact, huge open pits, runoff (besides waste water) And the huge cost to restore that environmental damage. And once the oil is recovered it still needs to be refined and it is a very dirty oil that makes venezuela crude look sweet. The general consensus from the people I know is oil sand production is over stated costs are understated, and none have put any money on it. Again, sorry about no links as this is all heard from people I know in the oil biz in south Tx and its usually coupled with rolled eyes and laughter.

To: energyplay who wrote (6713)	5/25/2006 2:32:38 PM
From: Elroy Jetson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217749

The underlying economics of converting "tar sands" bitumen into crude oil depends upon the hydrogen percentage. In short, a barrel of bitumen from tar sand is worth roughly 0.69 barrels of light crude oil. I don't know the current total price of bitumen extraction and ecological recovery of the mine site, but some have mentioned a price of $28 per barrel of bitumen, or $42 per barrel of light crude oil ($28 / 0.69). Based on a light crude oil price of $74 per barrel, that's a "net back" of $30 per barrel. Obviously at a light crude price of $42, the "net back" is zero and tar sands hold only speculative value. Percentage of Hydrogen by weight 80% natural gas 15% light crude oil 12% heavy crude oil 10.4% tar sands _3% coal In order to turn tar sands into light crude oil, you need to add hydrogen, say from natural gas (or water, but that takes a lot more energy). Obviously, if tar sands were used like a sloppy form of coal, tar sands also have some value as a very dirty fuel which could be used in large furnaces. .