Western Oil Sands
Encyclopedia
Western Oil Sands, headquartered in Calgary
, Alberta
was a 20 percent partner in the Athabasca Oil Sands
Project. Together with their partners, Western Oil Sands mines and extracts recoverable bitumen reserves at the Muskeg River Mine
for transportation to the Scotford Upgrader
, 435 km to the south, for upgrading into synthetic crude oil.
On July 31, 2007 the company announced a plan of arrangement with Marathon Oil Corporation. For approximately $6.6 billion, Marathon was to acquire all of Western's outstanding common shares and gain ownership of its 20 percent stake in the Athabasca
Oil Sands Project. Western subsidiary WesternZagros Limited was to spin off into WesternZagros Resources Inc., whose new shares were to be distributed to existing shareholders. All of Western's assets in the Federal Region of Kurdistan were to be controlled by WesternZagros Resources, Inc.
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
was a 20 percent partner in the Athabasca Oil Sands
Athabasca Oil Sands
The Athabasca oil sands are large deposits of bitumen, or extremely heavy crude oil, located in northeastern Alberta, Canada - roughly centred on the boomtown of Fort McMurray...
Project. Together with their partners, Western Oil Sands mines and extracts recoverable bitumen reserves at the Muskeg River Mine
Albian Sands
Albian Sands Energy Inc. is the operator of the Muskeg River Mine, an oil sands mining project located north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. It is a joint venture between Shell Canada , Marathon Oil Canada and Chevron Canada . The company's legal headquarters are located in the Shell Tower in...
for transportation to the Scotford Upgrader
Scotford Upgrader
The Shell Scotford Upgrader is an oilsand upgrader, a facility which processes crude bitumen from oil sands into a wide range of synthetic crude oils. The upgrader is owned by Athabasca Oil Sands Project , a joint venture of Shell Canada Energy , Marathon Oil Sands L.P. and Chevron Canada Limited...
, 435 km to the south, for upgrading into synthetic crude oil.
Profile
On May 30, 2006, the company announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, WesternZagros Limited, entered into an Exploration Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA) with the Kurdistan Regional Government, Sulaymaniyah Administration to explore for conventional oil and gas in the Federal Region of Kurdistan. This agreement was to become effective when it was passed into law which is expected to occur in the coming months.On July 31, 2007 the company announced a plan of arrangement with Marathon Oil Corporation. For approximately $6.6 billion, Marathon was to acquire all of Western's outstanding common shares and gain ownership of its 20 percent stake in the Athabasca
Athabasca
Athabasca is an anglicized version of the Cree name for Lake Athabasca in Canada, āthap-āsk-ā-w , meaning “grass or reeds here and there”.Related to the lake are several other geographical and administrative features called Athabasca...
Oil Sands Project. Western subsidiary WesternZagros Limited was to spin off into WesternZagros Resources Inc., whose new shares were to be distributed to existing shareholders. All of Western's assets in the Federal Region of Kurdistan were to be controlled by WesternZagros Resources, Inc.
See also
- OilOilAn oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
- Tar sandsTar sandsBituminous sands, colloquially known as oil sands or tar sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. The sands contain naturally occurring mixtures of sand, clay, water, and a dense and extremely viscous form of petroleum technically referred to as bitumen...
- GasGasGas is one of the three classical states of matter . Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons...
- Oil wellOil wellAn oil well is a general term for any boring through the earth's surface that is designed to find and acquire petroleum oil hydrocarbons. Usually some natural gas is produced along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce mainly or only gas may be termed a gas well.-History:The earliest...
- DrillingDrillingDrilling is a cutting process that uses a drill bit to cut or enlarge a hole in solid materials. The drill bit is a multipoint, end cutting tool...
- OPECOPECOPEC is an intergovernmental organization of twelve developing countries made up of Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. OPEC has maintained its headquarters in Vienna since 1965, and hosts regular meetings...
- List of oil-producing states