"Visiongain Forecasts Record Spending of $24.9bn in the Oil Sands Market in 2011" Says Visiongain

London, United Kingdom, August 11, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Global demand for energy is rising at a rapid pace as population growth and economic prosperity is enabling consumers in developing and emerging markets to shift their lifestyle towards increasingly energy consuming products. Risks of oil supply disruptions from Middle Eastern and North African countries are apparent; hence the price of crude oil and petroleum products are expected to remain high over the next few years, making alternative sources such as oil sands economically viable.

Sizeable quantities of extra-heavy oil and natural bitumen - estimated at 2.6 trillion to 3.8 trillion barrels - lie beneath the Earth's crust. Although abundant, oil sand resources are very hard to extract and in certain areas the oil is so thinly mixed with other sediments that it is not economically feasible to develop. The heavy oil's extreme viscosity raises its resistance to flow, which means reserves are nearly or completely immobile in the reservoirs. Therefore, extracting oil from oil sands is a high-stakes activity and requires considerable investment.

Time magazine has described the Alberta oil sands as "Canada's greatest buried energy treasure that could satisfy the world's demand for petroleum energy for the next century." Alberta's oil sands contain one of the world's largest of oil reserves. Indeed, current estimates show that these reserves are second only to Saudi Arabia.

According to the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB), Canada's oil sand resources are estimated to hold as much as 175 billion barrels of recoverable bitumen with current technologies. The ERCB reports that oil sands bitumen production is currently around 1.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and expects that oil sands production will reach 2.7 million barrels per day by 2015. However, in the past the output of the oil sand industry has risen above expectations and it is likely that the actual oil equivalent output will exceed expectations once again and reach 3.0 million barrels by 2015.

The oil sands industry has been criticised for being very energy intensive and detrimental to the environment, hence companies involved in this market have accepted the problems that the industry have been facing. As a result, oil sand companies have been working together on devising new techniques and processes that allow for the reduction of tailings and minimising energy use. Furthermore, now oil sand companies are playing a more active role in protecting the environment while creating value for their shareholders.

For more information about this report please visit

http://xrl.us/OilSands

Or contact:
Sara Peerun, for an executive summary of the report.
Email: Sara.peerun@
visiongainglobal.com
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7336 6100
Web: www.visiongain.com

Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary

2. Introduction to the Oil Sands Market

3. The Global Oil Sands Market

4. The Leading National and Regional Oil Sands Markets

5. SWOT Analysis of the Oil Sands Market 2011-2021

6. Oil Sands Technologies

7. Expert Opinion

8. Leading Companies in the Oil Sands Market

9. Conclusions

10. Glossary

Notes for Editors

If you are interested in a more detailed overview of this report, please send an e-mail to sara.peerun@visiongainglobal.com or call her on +44 (0) 207 336 6100

About Visiongain

Visiongain is one of the fastest growing and most innovative independent media companies in Europe. Based in London, UK, Visiongain produces a host of business-2-business conferences, newsletters, management reports and e-zines focusing on the Energy, Pharmaceutical, Telecoms, Defence and Materials sectors.

Visiongain publishes reports produced by its in-house analysts, who are qualified experts in their field. Visiongain has firmly established itself as the first port-of-call for the business professional, who needs independent, high quality, original material to rely and depend on.

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