Editing Oil sands (section)

===Size of resources===
{{See also|List of countries by proven oil reserves}}

The magnitude of the resources in the two countries is on the order of 3.5 to 4 trillion barrels (550 to 650 billion cubic metres) of original [[oil in place]] (OOIP).{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} Oil in place is not necessarily [[oil reserves]], and the amount that can be produced depends on [[technological change|technological evolution]]. Rapid [[technological revolution|technological developments]] in Canada in the 1985–2000 period resulted in techniques such as [[steam-assisted gravity drainage]] (SAGD) that can recover a much greater [[Extraction of petroleum|percentage of the OOIP]] than conventional methods. The Alberta government estimates that with current technology, 10% of its bitumen and heavy oil can be recovered, which would give it about 200 billion barrels (32 billion m<sup>3</sup>) of recoverable oil reserves. Venezuela estimates its recoverable oil at 267 billion barrels (42 billion m<sup>3</sup>).<ref name="Dusseault 2001"/> This places Canada and Venezuela in the same league as Saudi Arabia, having the three [[List of countries by proven oil reserves|largest oil reserves in the world]].