In today's episode, I interview Dan Gunderson, a consultant to API, who describes the benefits of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil-sands derived crude oil from Canada to markets in Oklahoma and refineries along the Gulf Coast.

Use the audio player below to listen to information about the article and follow along with the show notes. I hope you find the podcast informative.

00:17 A controversy is brewing over the building of a major pipeline that could carry oil-sands derived crude oil from Alberta, Canada, to refineries on the Gulf Coast. There's no doubt that America needs the oil to produce gasoline and other oil products for consumers, but critics have posed several objections. To discuss this controversy, we have Dan Gunderson on the... more »

Northern Alberta is believed to contain more recoverable oil than the total reserves of Saudi Arabia--existing in oil sands deposits--20% of which can be accessed via surface mining and 80% that are too deep for mining.

During our visit to Alberta, we had the opportunity to visit ConocoPhillips' Surmont facility where these deep deposits are produced by flooding the sands with steam in a process called Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD).

Watch the video below to see how ConocoPhillips produces about 20,000 barrels of oil per day from SAGD oil sands recovery.

A recent Canadian Energy Research Institute (CERI) study says greater production of Canada's oil sands is expected to stimulate economic activity in both countries, creating more than 340,000 new U.S. jobs and adding an estimated... more »

In August, I wrote about my experience traveling to Alberta, Canada, with reporters and bloggers to see how oil sands are produced and converted into crude oil.

We learned that there are two different processes utilized to produce oil from the sands--surface mining and in-situ, where the sands are heated with steam and pumped to the surface.

Below is a video from the Syncrude facility we visited. You'll be able to see how surface mining and extensive land reclamation efforts happen post production, and how a form of oil called bitumen is processed into 350,000 barrels of oil per day.

Canadian oil is a reliable and plentiful strategic resource for meeting our nation's growing energy demand and making the United States more energy secure. It makes sense to tap into this energy-rich resou... more »

During the past several days, I've written extensively about Canada's oil sands, how they are produced, and the environmental programs that convert the disturbed land into meadows, forests and lakes. Today, in my final post about last week's oil sands tour, I want to provide you with some basic facts that often don't appear in news articles about oil sands development.

First, the maximum area identified for oil sands mining is slightly more than 1 percent of Alberta's boreal forest area, which encompasses 147,100 square miles. Put another way, the oil sands exist in an area about the size of Lake Superior and Lake Huron, with the amount of lan... more »

So you mine the oil sands, extract the oil, reclaim the land--and then what do you do? At the Syncrude oil sands operation in Alberta, you start a bison ranch--wood bison, to be specific.

Approximately 300 of these big, shaggy mammals live on nearly 1,730 acres of reclaimed land that used to be an oil sands mine. Today the former mine comprises several pastures where the bison graze and rid themselves of insects by rolling in the dirt or rubbing against scratching posts. They live a good life with plenty of food and water, and with freedom from the diseases that are threatening the existence of the species.

According to Syncrude's environmental managers, Canada's wild wood bison herd is suffering from tuberculosis and anthrax--deadly diseases that could lead to extinction. To ensure the l... more »