Abstract

The Athabasca oil sand deposit covers 5 million acres in northeastern Alberta and contains approximately 600 billion barrels of oil. The first commercial program to produce the fabulous Athabasca oil is underway. Sun Oil Ltd. is operating a 4,000 acre mining lease 20 miles north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, along the Athabasca River. This operation is scheduled to mine 120,000 tons of oil sand and to produce 45,000 barrels of synthetic crude oil per day. Two-hundred and forty million dollars will have been invested when this project goes on stream in September 1967.

This talk is primarily concerned with the geology of the Athabasca oil sands, with particular emphasis on the commercial evaluation of the Sun Oil mining lease. Computer applications and geological data processing methods have been used throughout the project. Three specific areas of computer application will be covered: (1) formation evaluation, (2) geological analysis, and (3) logistics planning for the mining operation. In addition, the oil extraction process will be covered.