Canada's oil sands are the largest hydrocarbon reserve in the world, after Saudi Arabia with proven reserves of 173 billion barrels of bitumen. With continued technology advances, the annual production of oil sands has been growing. According to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, the total output of oil was 2.7 million barrels per day in 2007 and it is expected to grow up to 3 million barrels per day by 2015.

CanmetENERGY serves as the Government of Canada's energy science and technology arm to provide solutions and knowledge for addressing critical oil sands environment issues while also ensuring it remains a valuable product for Canada. With this increase in oil sands growth there are several environmental challenges to land, air, water and energy conservation that will need to be addressed for Canada to pursue oil sands in a sustainable manner. We currently conduct research and technology development programs in the following areas:

• Extraction and Tailings
• Water Management
• Multiphase Systems
• Bioprocessing Oil Sands
• Upgrading Oil Sands and Heavy Oil
• Future Fuels and Emissions

With an indepth understanding of oil sands processes and strong fundamental science capabilities, our scientists are able to look at the whole oil sands value chain. We can assess where advances can be made that will reduce environmental impacts while still being economically viable. Environmental issues related to oil sands production are becoming increasingly important to Canadians and require a concentrated effort to find and implement solutions.

At CanmetENERGY, we work in partnership with industry and consortia to provide advice and to commercialize new technologies. We work with government policy makers and regulators to provide advice and scientific facts for decision making and with top research specialists in universities, both nationally and internationally, to help attract the next generation of federal employees.

To find out more about our work on Oil Sands visit our technical overview section.