About Oil

What is Oil

Crude oil is a naturally occurring mixture of hundreds of different hydrocarbon compounds trapped in underground rock. These hydrocarbons were created millions of years ago when ancient marine life or vegetation died and settled on the bottoms of streams, lakes, seas and oceans, forming a thick layer of organic material. Sediment later covered this layer, applying heat and pressure that ‘cooked’ the organic material and changed it into the petroleum we extract from the ground today. Read more

Oil FAQ(s)

What is flaring? Does crude oil production have environmental consequences? This section provides you with quick and easy answers to commonly asked questions related to oil. Read more

Statistics

This a valuable section outlining current statistics regarding the potential of oil in Alberta, the amount of oil remaining, and much more. Read more

Oil Facts

Alberta exports over 1 million bbls/d of oil to US markets accounting for 10 per cent of US oil imports. If you are looking for more interesting facts on oil, this section will provide it for you.

 Read more

Prices

Oil prices are set in an open and competitive market and are influenced by many variables throughout North America and the world. These variables include supply and demand, production and exploration levels, global weather patterns, pricing and availability of competing energy sources and market participants’ views of future trends in any of these or other variables.

 Read more
Last reviewed/revised: 2007-07-26