The US Energy Information Administration ranks Alberta’s bitumen oil sands reserves second or third to those of Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. However, evidence from the field and new research indicate that Western Canada’s oil reserves are possibly far larger and could rival or exceed those of the Saudis or the Venezuelans. Today contributor Mike Priaro begins a two part series describing Western Canada’s vast bitumen resources.
The Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) extends from the Williston Basin, which straddles the Canada-US border, north to the Mackenzie Basins, west to the Rocky Mountains and east to the edge of the Pre-Cambrian Shield, (see Figure 1).
Figure 1
Source: Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board report ST98-2013
Significant production of conventional oil, defined as crude light enough to flow in a pipeline (gravity lighter than 20o API), started in the WCSB with the discovery of the Turner Valley oilfield in the 1930s, expanded greatly with discovery of the Leduc reef trend by Imperial Oil in 1947, and peaked at 1.4 MMbd in 1973.
Over 200 years ago the first Europeans had noted bitumen seeps along the banks of the Athabasca River in northern Alberta. The local Aboriginal people had long been using bitumen to waterproof canoes. Bitumen is crude with a specific gravity greater than fresh water (less than 10o API) and is a thick, semi-solid fluid at room temperature that does not flow at commercial rates to a wellbore under normal reservoir conditions.
This bitumen crude was not considered commercially recoverable until Dr. Karl Clark, a scientist with the Alberta Research Council in the 1920s, pioneered experiments with a hot water flotation process to separate out bitumen from the sand it is found in. The hot water flotation process was used to produce bitumen for roofing and road surfacing at a plant north of Fort McMurray, AB. In 1936 Abasand Oils Ltd.’s plant west of Fort McMurray produced diesel oil from the bitumen sands until it burned down in the 1940s. In 1962, the Government of Alberta announced a policy to provide for the orderly development of the bitumen sands and Suncor’s Great Canadian Oil Sands project came on stream in 1967 to become the world's first large-scale bitumen sands project.
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About the song
“We Are the Champions” was written by Freddie Mercury and appears as the second song on side one of Queen’s sixth studio album, News of the World. The song is an anthem citing paying your dues, overcoming adversity, and celebrating victory. It has become the theme song for victories at sporting events all over the world. In 2009, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Released as a single in October 1977, it went to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Personnel on the record were: Freddie Mercury (lead, backing vocals, piano), Brian May (guitars, backing vocals), John Deacon (bass), and Roger Taylor (drums, backing vocals).
News of the World was recorded between July and September 1977 at Sarm East and Wessex Sound in London, and produced by Queen and Mike Stone. The album was released in October 1977 and went to #3 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. It has been certified 4X Platinum by the RIAA. Three singles were released from the LP.
Queen is a British rock band formed in London in 1970 by guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor, vocalist Freddie Mercury, and bassist John Deacon. They evolved from a band May and Taylor had named Smile. They have released 15 studio albums, 10 live albums, two soundtrack albums, 17 compilation albums, two EPs and 73 singles and have sold more than 250 million records worldwide. Queen has won four Brit Awards and four Ivor Novello Awards and are members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame, and U.K. Music Hall of Fame. The band also has a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Lead vocalist and founding member Freddie Mercury died in London in November 1991 at 45. John Deacon retired from music in 1997. Brian May and Roger Taylor have continued performing as Queen, first with Paul Rodgers, then with Adam Lambert as lead vocalist. May and Taylor last appeared together performing “Bohemian Rhapsody” with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra at the Last Night of the Proms with tenor Sam Oladeinde in London in September 2025. Both May and Taylor have been involved in various solo projects. May, an astrophysicist, has been involved with NASA on the New Horizons Pluto Mission.
"About the Song" -- written by Mickey McMahan , RBN Director of Musicology
