Editing Bitumen (section)

=== Oil sands ===
{{Main|Oil sands}}
Naturally occurring crude bitumen impregnated in sedimentary rock is the prime feed stock for petroleum production from "[[oil sands]]", currently under development in Alberta, Canada. Canada has most of the world's supply of natural bitumen, covering 140,000 square kilometres<ref name=oilsands/> (an area larger than England), giving it the second-largest proven [[oil reserves]] in the world. The [[Athabasca oil sands]] are the largest bitumen deposit in Canada and the only one accessible to [[surface mining]], although recent technological breakthroughs have resulted in deeper deposits becoming producible by ''[[in-situ#Petroleum|in situ]]'' methods. Because of [[world oil market chronology from 2003|oil price increases after 2003]], producing bitumen became highly profitable, but as a result of the decline after 2014 it became uneconomic to build new plants again. By 2014, Canadian crude bitumen production averaged about {{convert|2.3|Moilbbl|m3}} per day and was projected to rise to {{convert|4.4|Moilbbl|m3}} per day by 2020.<ref name="CAPP"/> The total amount of crude bitumen in Alberta that could be extracted is estimated to be about {{convert|310|Goilbbl|e9m3|sigfig=1}},<ref name=ST98/> which at a rate of {{convert|4400000|oilbbl/d}} would last about 200 years.