question regarding how much oil in canada

I need a bit of help. I was in a forum just a while ago and this yahoo kept on and on about Canada having no oil to speak of. And that the states has more like he doesnt want to believe that Alberta as , in the tar sands alone more oil that Saudi Arabia. I spent the last few hrs trying to google info about oil reserves in the states and canada. While i know the states does have more I would like to find out just where do we place in the world in oil exporting? One list I went to says 12 one other said sixth. This is bugging me so if anyone could help me out I would appreciate it. Thanks.
PS sorry this was such a long preamble as it were.

I dont think Canada is #3. Along with middle eastern countires u have have Russia and south america.

I forget where I read it, but I seem to remember seeing somewhere that Canada in fact is #3 in oil reserves. I don't know where we are in production, but I think in the same article it said we were the US's largest supplier of oil.

I could, however, be WAY off..........

I cant gibe you specifics, I have signed an agreement know to discuss certain things upon my retirement, and while this is not really one, and theres no secrets about that data anyway, I simply avoid it as a general rule. Besides, I cant recall the figures off the top of my head, anyway - it really wasnt my end of things.

However, this guy obviously doesnt know what he's talking about. The LARGEST supplier of "foreign oil" to America is not Saudi Arabia, not Kuwait, not Venezuela - it is Canada. The slump in oil exploration in our early-to-mid-80's, from which the industry is just now emerging, was due less to market/price factors than it was due to the fact that there were/are already SO many capped wells in the west, that there was simply no economic incentive to explore for more. The last figures I recall about world reserves (KNOWN, established reserves) forecast between 120 and 160 years, at the current consumption rates. And there's much speculation about further reserves to be found in so-called "Siberia"; until recent times, the Russian economic system didnt support heavy exploration and its a helluva big chunk of territory, so its years and years behind.
And then, of course, there's the "Oceanic potential" - thats still very rough guesswork, in terms of quantities....

As far as variable figures goes, some factors are whether you count reserves in American territory, of what IS actually foreign oil, by some defintions; how much oil is being stored in natural salt caverns in the States; do you count the ANWAR reserves or not; do you include tar sands 9as you mentioned) and shale deposits? Etc, etc.

Found this on the Candian Association of Petroleum Producers web site

Here are some key facts about CanadaÂ’s upstream oil and natural gas industry:

Canada is the third-largest producer of natural gas and the ninth-largest producer of crude oil in the world.

The upstream sector is the largest single private sector investor in Canada.

Industry payments to governments have averaged close to $8.5 billion per year over the last ten years. In 2002, the oil and gas industry contributed an estimated $11 billion to government revenues in the form of royalty payments, bonus payments and income taxes.

Our crude oil and natural gas trade surplus contributed $26 billion to CanadaÂ’s merchandise trade balance of $55 billion in 2002.

We produce more than 20% of North AmericaÂ’s crude oil and natural gas but account for only 10% of its consumption.

www.capp.ca/default.asp?V_DOC_ID=603

thanks a lot MP I really appreciate it. I found out a lot of interesting things on that link. Now all I have to do is tell this yahoo canada is more than just snow. I dont like to really put any one down but this gut is about 3 bricks shy of a full load. Anyways thanks again. One more thing hope you are coping with that storm okay.

Nonrev thanks for your post also. I didnt count the shale deposits.I am going to go and look that up. BTW this a great site. Thanks guys

Depending on the context of the question the answer will follow. Canada supplies 93 percent of the U.S. import of petroleum. That fact is little known to our neighbors but true none the less.

Actually after checking for sure I realize I was wrong. The actual number is approx. 85 percent as quoted from an article on www.canada.com/national from Oct.2003. I stand corrected but its still a fairly large amount compared with 15 percent from the rest of the Oil producing nations.

there is a shit load of oil in canada. It's just that it in the tar sands so the numbers are probably something like 175 B barrels of recoverable oil usinf present technology and a whole lot more if prices go up or if the extraction tech gets better. I've heard estimates of 1 TRILLION! which is insane. It's just unprofitible to extract yet:)

Yeah the big problem with the North Alberta oil sands projects is refining the hydro-steam extraction process. It harms the environment way way less than strip mining which is how they used to do it. The other problem is that oil steam extraction is freaking expensive but easier on the environment and actually when all the oil is extracted from and area it can be more effectively useable in a shorter turn around time than from strip mining.

Another interesting fact is that the U.S. drilled their last oil well in 1976(I'm pretty sure it was '76). Since then they have been importing their oil from other countries. If John D. Rockefeller were alive today he'd kill himself for watching Americans buying oil from other countries... but then again Standard Oil was a monster monopoly so maybe it's better off he's gone.