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Athabasca oilsands to yield 'black gold'

In 1967, a new age began for Canada's oil industry when the oilsands of Alberta finally began yielding their long-sought riches. As the environmental and health impacts of oilsands production emerged, scientists looked for ways to obtain the oil more cleanly. Today the oilsands keep Alberta's economy humming, but opponents say it's a dirty business whose true cost has yet to be realized.

Amid the rolling bushland and muskeg of northern Alberta lie the Athabasca oilsands, a bowl-shaped area first discovered in 1788. Despite efforts to extract the oil early in the 20th century, it's not until 1964 that it becomes commercially viable to separate the oil from the sand. That year, the Alberta Oil and Gas Conservation Board grants permission to remove 45,000 barrels a day to a company called Great Canadian Oil Sands. This 1964 radio documentary describes the work involved in engineering and staffing the project and marketing the oil it yields.
• The Great Canadian Oil Sands development officially began producing oil on Sept. 30, 1967, though the machines and refinery had already been operating for over two months. Premier Ernest Manning was present for the opening ceremony, joined by 600 people flown in for the occasion.
  • Manning projected that the plant, which was under construction for three years and cost $235 million ($1.57 billion in 2011 dollars), would bring in $5 million annually in royalties for the province.

• A Canadian subsidiary of Sun Oil (later Sunoco) of the United States was the project's majority backer, putting up funds for construction and committing to buying 75 per cent of its oil output. Shell Canada committed to buying the other 25 per cent. The subsidiary, also called Sun Oil, was later known as Suncor and as of 2011 is the second-largest company in Canada.

• The Athabasca oilsands were commonly referred as "tarsands" in newspapers and in radio and television reports for decades. The name refers to the sticky, tar-like nature of the oil trapped in sand, but the term is not accurate since tar comes from trees and coal. 

Medium: Radio
Program: CBC Radio Special
Broadcast Date: Nov. 6, 1965
Guest(s): Kevin Cahill, R.C. Fitzsimmons, R. McClemmons
Reporter: David Cruickshank
Duration: 28:47
Photo: Suncor Energy Inc.

Last updated: February 17, 2012

Page consulted on March 22, 2013

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