Albian Sands Energy Inc. is the operator of the Muskeg River Mine and Jack Pine Mine, an

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 ...

mining project located north of

Fort McMurray Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It is located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. It has played a significan ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

, Canada. It is a joint venture between Shell Canada (10%), CNRL (70%) and Chevron Canada (20%). The company's legal headquarters are located in the

Shell Tower The Shell Centre in London is the global headquarters of oil major Shell plc. It is located on Belvedere Road in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a prominent feature on the South Bank of the River Thames near County Hall, and now form ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

, Alberta. Albian Sands got its name from the Albian Boreal Sea which, during the

Albian The Albian is both an age of the geologic timescale and a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early/Lower Cretaceous Epoch/ Series. Its approximate time range is 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 100.5 ± 0 ...

stage of the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

(over 100 million years ago), moved over the McMurray sands and deposited a blanket of marine shale on its floor which trapped the hydrocarbons of the McMurray Formation. The oil sands resources of the Muskeg River Mine are a legacy of the Albian Sea. At full production, Albian Sands can produce of crude

bitumen Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

, a naturally occurring semi-solid form of crude oil. The mine product, diluted bitumen or ''

dilbit Dilbit (diluted bitumen) is a bitumen diluted with one or more lighter petroleum products, typically natural-gas condensates such as naphtha. Diluting bitumen makes it much easier to transport, for example in Pipeline transport, pipelines. Per the ...

'', is sent to be upgraded at the Scotford Upgrader in Fort Saskatchewan. The Muskeg River Mine stands on a Shell Canada lease containing more than of mineable bitumen, of which it is expected to recover of bitumen over the next 30 years. The Muskeg River Mine, Jack Pine Mine and the Scotford Upgrader together comprise the Athabasca Oil Sands Project (AOSP). A proposed future mine expansion would increase production by 100,000 bbl/day. The (incremental) expansion project received regulatory approval in late 2006. At the mine site, the 175 megawatt MRM Cogeneration plant owned 70% by ATCO Power and 30% by

SaskPower Saskatchewan Power Corporation, operating as SaskPower, is the principal electric utility in Saskatchewan, Canada. Established in 1929 by the provincial government, it serves more than 538,000 customers and manages over $11.8 billion in assets. S ...

supplies

process steam A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management *Business process, activities that produce a specific se ...

and electricity to the mine. 50% of the electricity produced is surplus to mine needs and is sold into the Alberta

power grid An electrical grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. It consists of:Kaplan, S. M. (2009). Smart Grid. Electrical Power ...

. The Corridor Pipeline which transports diluted bitumen from the Muskeg River Mine to the Scotford Upgrader is owned by Inter Pipeline Ltd. To accommodate its workforce, the project has built a 2460-room "village" with service and recreation facilities. The project is using satellite based imaging to ensure transparent reporting of its land use.

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External links

{{coord, 57.3, -111.5, display=title, name=Albian Sands Oil companies of Canada Athabasca oil sands Joint ventures Marathon Oil Shell plc subsidiaries Chevron Corporation Companies based in Calgary Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo