Athabasca Tar Sands

The Athabasca Tar Sands is a large area of Tar sands located mainly in north-eastern Alberta and, to a much lesser degree Saskatchewan. It is estimated that the Athabasca Tar Sands contain approximately one third of the world's total oil deposits, with another third in the Venezuelan Orinoco tar sands deposit. The remaining third of the world's oil is in the form of conventional oil, much of it in Saudi Arabia and other Middle-Eastern countries.

According to the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, the Athabasca tar sands is the largest oil deposit in the world, with an estimated 1.6 trillion barrels of oil.

The Athabasca Tar Sands is mainly located in and around Fort McMurray, and have been heavily explored only realatively recently. They are a large source of revenue for the government of Alberta and are currently being expanded.

Although still disputed, one theory of the creation of the oil sands is that highly organic Cretaceous shales were exposed to extreme pressure, and the oil was absorbed by the soil.

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