Status of Work on the Extraction of Bitumens

Summary

The report analyses the state of the art in connection with the extraction of bitumens and heavy crudes and evaluates this type of hydrocarbon feedstock as a potentially practical alternative source of oil in the near future. Among oilmen and specialists dealing with problems of operation of fuel and energy systems in industrialized countries, the view is widely held that bitumens and heavy crudes represent a principal, if not the principal, alternative source of oil.

In a number of countries (USSR, Canada, Venezuela, United States of America and others), bitumens and heavy crudes are already being extracted and converted into synthetic oil.

Certain successes have been achieved in the extraction, development and processing of heavy crudes and bitumens. Important research has been carried out in the USSR and other countries in the field of geology and on the laws governing the formation and location of bitumens and heavy crude deposits. But in spite of this, it is not yet possible to make an objective evaluation of this type of feedstock as a sufficiently large-scale alternative source of oil. To solve this problemi it would first be necessary to conduct, on the basis of co-operation among the world’s scientists, an assessment of available resources of bitumens and heavy crudes as well as experimental work on the extraction of this feedstock with a view to reducing its production costs.