Crude Oil Supply - Natural Gas Costs per Barrel

The following chart created for the Alberta Chamber of Commerce technology roadmap, provides an estimate of energy costs for all facets of the value added chain with natural gas consumptions.

For recovery and full upgrading, and for full reliance on natural gas, costs for energy and hydrogen range from $5 to $8 per barrel.

Several oil sands companies have instituted energy efficiency into their operations in the form of cogeneration systems; the simultaneous production of electricity and thermal energy from a single facility (usually gas turbines with heat recovery steam generators). The electricity is used to meet project energy needs, such as operating mine machinery and in-situ well pumps, with excess electricity being supplied to the provincial grid. It is evident from the chart that cogeneration is a better balanced option for mining or upgrading; to generate sufficient steam via cogeneration for In-Situ production will result in a vast excess of power, with limited transmission facilities to handle it at this time.