Oil sands in Canada eyed by U.S., China

Rob Gillies, Associated Press

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Calgary, Alberta -- In the northern reaches of Alberta lies a vast reserve of oil that the United States views as a pillar of its future energy needs.
China, with a growing appetite for oil that may one day surpass that of the United States, is ready to spend the dollars for a big piece of it. The oil sands of this Canadian province are so plentiful that they will be able to serve both of the world's largest economies as production expands in the coming years. But that will mean building at least two pipelines, one south to the Texas Gulf Coast and another west toward the Pacific, and that in turn means fresh environmental battles on top of those already raging over the costly and energy-intensive method of extracting oil from sand.

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