Bruce Vanderveen submits:
"A New Saudi Arabia of Oil" scream the headlines. You’ve seen the hype. But, how do you separate truth from headline? Well, we do know there are staggering amounts of hydrocarbons in the western sedimentary basins of North America. It is no coincidence that the U.S. imports more oil from Canada than any other country. While Saudi Arabia has 264 billion barrels of oil reserves, Alberta’s Athabasca oil sands alone total some 1.7 trillion barrels of hydrocarbons.
Canada’s oil and gas are vital for the U.S. The quiet rolling western prairies are safe, peaceful and close. One doesn’t deal with egomaniacs like Venezuela’s Chavez (though some might nominate Alberta’s premier Ed Stelmach), Nigeria’s violent saboteurs, or bomb-toting Middle Eastern jihadists. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the Canadian portion of these "staggering" North American reserves.