Ya wanna drive a hummer? Be nice to Canada

[softball]

Canada's proven oil reserves were estimated at 179.2 billion barrels as of 2007, placing it second only to Saudi Arabia.[8] Over 95% of these reserves are oil sands deposits in the province of Alberta. [9] Although Alberta contains nearly all of Canada's oil sands and about 75% of its conventional oil reserves, several other provinces and territories, especially Saskatchewan and offshore Newfoundland, have substantial oil production and reserves.[10] Total Canadian oil production was about 1.2 gigabarrels in 2006, giving Canada about 150 years of reserves at current production rates. Over 99% of Canadian oil exports are sent to the United States, making Canada, not Saudi Arabia, the United States' largest supplier of oil.[11] The picture is complicated somewhat by the fact that Canada has a highly sophisticated energy industry and is both an importer and exporter of oil and refined products. In 2006, in addition to producing 1.2 gigabarrels, Canada imported 0.44 gigabarrels, consumed 0.8 gigabarrels itself, and exported 0.84 gigabarrels to the U.S.[9] The excess of exports over imports was 0.4 gigabarrels.
The addition of 174 gigabarrels of the vast Alberta oil sands deposits, mostly in the Athabasca Oil Sands, to proven reserves by the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (AEU,[12] was controversial at the time because oil sands contain a semisolid form of oil referred to as bitumen by Canadian government authorities, rather than conventional crude oil.[12]. The existence of the deposits (historically referred to as "tar sands") has been known for centuries since major rivers cut through the sands to reveal the bitumen in the river banks, but their development had to wait for high prices and the invention of new technology. In recent years technological breakthroughs have overcome the challenges of producing it and most Alberta oil is now non-conventional production from oil sands rather than conventional oil fields. The AEUB estimates that by 2016 Alberta oil sands production will triple to amount to 86% of the province's total oil production, and Alberta will by then be one of the largest oil producers in the world.[12]

We have enough oil to drive this entire continent for two to four hundred years. That is driving Hummers,Vipers, Vettes and anything else you feel like driving. The only reason you can access this is NAFTA. Personally, I hope they kill Nafta and we can sell our oil where we want. Oh yeah...and Alaska? Forget about it, it still has to come through Canada. You guys better start lobbying to free up thiis border soon, or this nice deal we have will fall apart and your gas prices will skyrocket. Some say to 8 dollars a gallon. Damn I love living in Canada.

[DragonKing]

If the US wants it, they will invade Canada and take it

[RawAlex]

There are serious restrictions on getting to the oil from the Alberta fields. It is both energy intensive and a huge source of Co2 (single largest source in Canada last year). The extraction process isn't like an oil well (drill a hole and pump) but rather a fairly complex system that best runs with natural gas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_Sands

Let's just say "yeah, there is oil, but you might not be able to afford it". is the best way to describe the deal.

[rabble]

Originally Posted by RawAlex

There are serious restrictions on getting to the oil from the Alberta fields. It is both energy intensive and a huge source of Co2 (single largest source in Canada last year).

Not to mention the huge quantities of water it fucks up in the process.
I don't see how Canada does this and still reduces it's carbon footprint.

Do we really want oil that badly?

[RawAlex]

Originally Posted by rabble

Not to mention the huge quantities of water it fucks up in the process.
I don't see how Canada does this and still reduces it's carbon footprint.

Do we really want oil that badly?

Yeah, it's a process that is very messy, dirty, and has long term implications. That Canadian Government has mandated that they have to put the carbon in the ground (basically bury the dirty stuff and see how badly it fucks things up in a couple of hundred years), but the water pollution (and air pollution) from this process is pretty high.

Heck, just burning all that natural gas is enough to raise the air temps.

[Hell Puppy]

I'm considering invading Whistler in a couple of weeks....

[Toby]

Originally Posted by DragonKing

If the US wants it, they will invade Canada and take it.

I think we should leave our northern border completely undefended and allow Canada to invade. Easiest way to replace that corrupt institution in Washington.

[softball]

Originally Posted by DragonKing

If the US wants it, they will invade Canada and take it

Hell, America couldn't even defeat Iraq or Viet Nam. Not too worried. Canadian oil became profitable at 69 dollars a barrel. It is just not as profitable as Saudi oil but it works and there is huge amounts of it. As for water, we have no shortage. Its one of the few things that we did not allow to be covered by Nafta and is rapidly becoming a hugely valuable resource of which we have no shortage. All this is not so great for me, because our dollar is more valuable than the American buck and I earn my income in a rapidly weakening currency. I might even have to move to the US.