1. Heavy Oils By: Rebecca Mowbray Molly Riddles & Kate Sweeney

2. Heavy Oil  Heavy oil is a type of oil that is very viscous and does not flow easily.  It is a type of crude oil, and naturally occurs in petroleum.  It is an up and coming resource that is being sought out as energy demand increases.

3. Location Heavy oil is found throughout the world with the greatest potential resources identified in Canada, Venezuela and Russia. Heavy oils are usually found at the margins of geological basins. Most of the heavy oils have been located in the Western Hemisphere, while the majority of lighter oils are found in the Eastern Hemisphere.

4. Location  The more notable heavy oil reserves are: Venezuela's Orinoco Heavy Oil Belt; Canada's Athabasca Oil Sands; Russia's Volga-Ural Basin; Brazil's offshore Campos Basin; Alaska's Prudhoe Bay; and China’s Luda field in Bohai Bay.  The largest known accumulation is Venezuela's Orinoco heavy oil belt, which boasts 90 percent of the world's heavy oil.

5. How Heavy Oil is Obtained Oil is a liquid hydrocarbon derived primarily from marine plants and animals. Oil formation takes place in source rocks, usually very fine-grained rocks known as black shales. Once the oil is formed, continued pressure from overlying rock forces the oil to migrate through permeable rock layers until it is trapped in reservoirs of sedimentary rock such as sandstone or limestone, or until it escapes at the surface.

6. How Heavy Oil is Obtained Deep deposits are often identified using Automated 2-D Electrical Imaging, a geophysical technique that plots electrical conductivity variations in the earth.

7. Availability of Heavy Oils The heavy oil and bitumen are still the world’s largest known hydrocarbon resource deposit, but scientists believe the amount of crude oil digested by the micro-organisms was two or three times what remains.

8. Availability of Heavy Oils Heavy oil accounts for more than double the resources of conventional oil in the world. Many types of heavy oil exist, and a variety of production processes are being used and developed to recover it. Heavy oil is different, and as a result of that, many technologies and services used for conventional oil face limitations with these highly viscous oils.

9. Cost Factors of Heavy Oils  ENVIRONMENTAL Overall, the environmental impact of Heavy Oil is negative. New technology can lower environmental impacts and costs, though the impact will continue to be higher than conventional crude production.  ECONOMIC Heavy Oil is very difficult to extract, and also very expensive. This Oil is being used in the United States more, with extraction sites opening up in several states. This, in turn, helps the nation’s economy, with people coming and being interested in the new oil production.

10. Environmental Impacts When Obtaining Source OObtaining heavy oils results in Greenhouse Emissions. TThere are several local effects where the oil is extracted: Significant water consumption Massive earth movie and ecosystem disturbance Increased air pollution The release of toxic materials  The picture to the right shows Heavy Oil contamination

11. Sources  http://www.wri.org/publication/content/10339  http://www.battelle.org/Environment/publications/en vupdates/Fall2003/article9.stm  http://www.usaid.gov/locations/middle_east/countries /lebanon/oil0107/  http://www.lloydminsterheavyoil.com/whatislaunch.ht m  http://www.centreforenergy.com/silos/ONG/ET- ONG.asp  http://www.slb.com/content/services/solutions/reserv oir/heavy_oil.asp  http://www.rigzone.com/howitworks/heavyoil/