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Oil sands (also called tar sands) are a combination of clay, sand, water and bitumen (a heavy, black, viscous oil). They can be mined and processed to extract the oil-rich bitumen, which is then refined into oil. The bitumen in oil sands cannot be pumped from the ground in its natural state; instead oil sand deposits are mined, usually using strip mining or open pit techniques, or the oil is extracted by underground heating with additional upgrading. Oil sands are mined and processed to generate oil similar to oil pumped from conventional oil wells, but extracting oil from tar sands is more complex than conventional oil recovery.

Much of the world's oil (more than 2 trillion barrels) is in the form of oil sands, although it is not all recoverable. While they are found in many places worldwide, the largest deposits are found in Canada and Venezuela, and much of the rest is found in various countries in the Middle East. In the U.S., resources are primarily concentrated in eastern Utah, where the in-place oil sands oil resources are estimated at 12 billion to 19 billion barrels. (Source: EIS / Photo: Flickr)

Europe clashes with Canada over oil sands

October 5, 2011, 3:16 p.m. by Russell McLendon

New rules in Europe could effectively ban oil derived from 'tar sands,' prompting cheers from environmentalists but jeers from some Canadians.

Emails show cozy ties in pipeline review

October 3, 2011, 4:09 p.m. by Russell McLendon

An environmental group obtains emails that it says show 'bias and complicity' in a government review of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

Kyra Sedgwick urges president to reject Keystone pipeline

October 3, 2011, 4:02 p.m. by Michael d'Estries

Actress partners with Natural Resources Defense Council, asking people to join her in opposing the $7 billion project.

How would you spend $7 billion?

September 5, 2011, 4:48 a.m. by Karl Burkart

Two proposed energy projects (each with a $7 billion price tag) present two very different directions for America's future. Which would you choose?

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Daryl Hannah on her arrest, oil pipeline

August 31, 2011, 1:17 p.m.

Video: Daryl Hannah landed in jail Tuesday while protesting a planned oil pipeline that would stretch from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The actress has been released and is speaking out.Daryl Hannah landed in jail Tuesday while protesting a planned

Biden calls for clean energy while protesters picket White House

August 30, 2011, 5:19 p.m. by Andrew Schenkel

The vice president has strong words about energy policy, but it's the administration's actions that have most in the environmental world concerned.

Indigenous leaders join Keystone protesters at White House

August 30, 2011, 4:59 p.m. by Andrew Schenkel

Tribal leaders are among the thousands of protesters who are trying to keep the Obama administration from giving the green light to a new pipeline.

Daryl Hannah arrested during White House protest

August 30, 2011, 4:54 p.m. by Michael d'Estries

Actress one of 100 people detained today while protesting the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Storm of protests unleashed around the U.S.

August 26, 2011, 1 p.m. by Jenn Savedge

Activists line up for different causes along different U.S. coasts to make sure that politicians know how they feel about methly iodide and a proposed pipeline.

To end the age of fossil fuels, try learning to speak its language

August 19, 2011, 3:59 p.m. by Chris Turner

Climate activists are about to launch two weeks of protest against a pipeline from Alberta's tar sands to the Gulf Coast. They'd do well to remember there are not just companies but people and communities on the other side of the argument.

Is oil from Alberta really climate's linchpin?

August 18, 2011, 1:59 p.m. by Chris Turner

Some of the world's most prominent climate activists are protesting a proposed pipeline that would bring Alberta's unconventional oil to the Gulf Coast. Is this the make-or-break point for global action on climate change?

Does Congress have a low energy IQ?

June 20, 2011, 4:31 p.m. by Andrew Schenkel

One man says a century of rhetoric on oil shale shows that it's an idea that will never come to fruition.

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