The Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority (AOSTRA) was an Alberta

crown corporation A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...

to promote the development and use of new technology for

oil sands Oil sands, tar sands, crude bitumen, or bituminous sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. Oil sands are either loose sands or partially consolidated sandstone containing a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, and wate ...

and

heavy crude oil Heavy crude oil (or extra heavy crude oil) is highly-viscous oil that cannot easily flow from production wells under normal reservoir conditions. It is referred to as "heavy" because its density or specific gravity is higher than that of light cru ...

production, and enhanced recovery of conventional

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

. It was funded by the

Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund The Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund (HSTF) is a sovereign wealth fund established in 1976 by the Government of Alberta under then-Premier Peter Lougheed. The Heritage Savings Trust Fund was created with three objectives: "to save for the fut ...

. Its head office and information centre were located in

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchor ...

and a second office in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,30 ...

in Canada.

History

AOSTRA was formed in 1974 for promotion of the development of new technologies for oil sands and heavy-oil production. In 1979 its mandate was expanded also to the conventional crude oil technologies. In 1984, AOSTRA initiated the Underground Test Facility as an in-situ

SAGD Steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD; "Sag-D") is an enhanced oil recovery technology for producing heavy crude oil and bitumen. It is an advanced form of steam stimulation in which a pair of horizontal wells is drilled into the oil reservoir, on ...

bitumen recovery facility. In 1986, the

Alberta Department of Energy The Ministry of Energy is a Executive Council of Alberta, Cabinet-level agency of the government of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta responsible for coordinating policy relating to the development of mineral a ...

took over AOSTRA's role in developing oil sands technology, and on 1 August 2000, AOSTRA was reorganized into the newly established

Alberta Energy Research Institute Alberta Innovates (AI) is an Alberta government provincial corporation whose appointed Board of Directors is accountable to the Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation and is responsible for promoting innovation in the province. AI was created ...

, and rebranded again to the name of Alberta InnovatesEnergy and Environment Solutions with an expanded role to include other energy-related research areas such as wind, solar, fuel cells, clean coal and biomass.

Operations

AOSTRA operated primarily through projects, the costs of which were shared with industries. The resultant technology is available to any user at fair market value. AOSTRA also supported research at Canadian universities and research institutions by providing grants to inventors, funding the operation of a technical information system, promoting international co-operation in oil sands development, and providing scholarships and fellowships for educational assistance. One of the main targets of AOSTRA finding of suitable technologies for that part of the Athabasca Oil Sands that could not be recovered using surface mining technologies.

Technologies

Most notable technologies developed with assistance of AOSTRA include of Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD), OSLO Cold Water Extraction (OCWE) and Alberta Taciuk Process (ATP).

References

{{Authority control Alberta government departments and agencies Crown corporations of Alberta Bituminous sands of Canada Energy companies established in 1974 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1974 1974 establishments in Alberta