Q:
What products are made from oil from oil sands?
A:
The bitumen collected from the
oil sands is upgraded in Fort McMurray to produce a number
of raw materials. For example, sulphur is removed from the
bitumen before it is turned into synthetic crude oil. Some
of this sulphur is processed in plants located at Fort Saskatchewan,
Alberta into fertilizers for agricultural use. Sulphur is
also used in the production of some steel. Some people also
believe that trace metals found in the bitumen can be collected
and sold for manufacture into consumer products. The main
product made from bitumen, however, is synthetic crude oil.
This oil is real, but it is called "synthetic"
crude because the molecular structure has been changed -
it has been altered from its naturally occurring state.
Synthetic
crude oil is shipped by pipeline to refineries in Edmonton
and Fort Saskatchewan in Alberta and further east to refineries
in Sarnia, Ontario and other centres. In these refineries
it is turned into many consumer goods and further raw materials.
Because most of the sulphur has already been removed, synthetic
crude is a high grade oil. It is often used to produce aviation
fuel because it burns very cleanly. It can also be used
to make gasoline, diesel fuel, lubricating oils and other
such products. However, oil is not just used for heating
houses and running cars. There are literally tens of thousands
of products that are made in whole, or in part, from oil
and oil by-products. There are very few items in a modern
Canadian household that are not connected in some way to
the petrochemical industry. If it is made from plastic or
synthetic rubber, or if it is painted or dyed, it contains
petroleum by-products. Most solvents and detergents are
also petrochemicals. Any food you eat that was grown using
fertilizers, and many of the clothes you wear, if they are
not made from cotton or linen or leather, are also dependent
on the petrochemical industry.
