How Alberta gets oil out of the ground
Spin a working pumpjack, watch steam chambers grow in the oil sands, and follow three centuries of Alberta oil history. Built for students, newcomers to the industry and the curious.
Alberta oil, explained in depth
Alberta's Oil Sands
How Alberta's oil sands work: geology, reserves, mining and SAGD, production, operators, tailings, emissions, royalties and history. 79 sources.
Read the guideThe Life of an Alberta Oil Well
How an Alberta oil well is licensed, drilled, fractured, produced, plugged and reclaimed, stage by stage, with the AER rules and latest data. 71 sources.
Read the guideGetting Alberta Oil to Market
How Alberta crude reaches buyers: export pipelines, hubs, apportionment, crude by rail, diluent, regulation and why pipeline space sets the WCS discount. 75 sources.
Read the guideOil Prices and Alberta's Economy
How WTI, WCS and the loonie set what Alberta oil earns, and how price swings move jobs, investment, royalties and the provincial budget. 63 sources.
Read the guideWho Owns Alberta's Oil? Mineral Rights, Royalties and Regulation Explained
How Alberta's oil is owned, leased, taxed and regulated, from Crown mineral rights and royalties to the AER, orphan wells and landowner rights. 93 sources.
Read the guideFrom Bitumen to Fuel
How Alberta turns bitumen into synthetic crude, diesel and gasoline: upgraders, refineries, the Sturgeon Refinery, the Heartland and partial upgrading. 56 sources.
Read the guideEmissions, Methane and Carbon Capture in Alberta's Oil Industry
Where Alberta's oil and gas emissions come from, how methane, carbon pricing and carbon capture work, and what changed in the 2025–2026 policy deals. 61 sources.
Read the guideWorking in Alberta's Oil and Gas Industry
Jobs in Alberta oil and gas: what they pay, how to train, which safety tickets employers expect, rotations and camps, safety record, outlook and scams. 90 sources.
Read the guideAlberta's Great Oil Fields
Profiles of Alberta's major oil plays, from Turner Valley and Leduc to the Montney, Duvernay and Clearwater, with geology, history and status. 101 sources.
Read the guideHow oil reaches the surface
Drilling rig in 3D
Tap the mast, top drive, mud pumps and blowout preventer, then drill a horizontal well: cement the surface casing, build the curve and run the lateral.
Open modelPumpjack in 3D
Every moving part of a beam pump, from the prime mover to the downhole pump. Change the stroke rate and see what the well could produce.
Open modelSAGD reservoir cutaway
A slice through the McMurray oil sands with three well pairs. Run twelve years of steaming and watch bitumen drain to the producers.
Open modelFrom the licence to the market
Life of a well
Eleven stages from the licence application to a reclaimed field, with the rule that governs each one.
Step throughExport pipeline map
Where Alberta crude goes after Edmonton and Hardisty, and how much each major line can carry.
Open mapNetback calculator
Follow one barrel's price from WTI to the field gate: the heavy-oil discount, the loonie and the cost of getting to market.
Run the numbersOil sands royalty calculator
See how the province's share rises with the oil price, before and after a project pays out its costs.
Run the numbersTrain for the hazards that matter
Learn the basics
History timeline
From Wa-Pa-Su's sample in 1719 to Leduc, Syncrude and the Trans Mountain Expansion.
Read the timelineOilpatch glossary
Bitumen, dilbit, SOR, WCS and the rest, defined in plain language.
Search termsWhat's in a barrel?
Convert barrels to cubic metres and see what a refinery makes from one barrel.
Open converterBy the numbers
Every key fact from the library on one page, each dated and linked to its source. Filter by topic or year.
Find a factQuiz centre
A quiz for every guide, plus the basics. Each answer is explained and linked back to its source.
Pick a quizHow well do you know Alberta oil?
Alberta Oil content kit, draft 0.2. Models are illustrative and not to scale. Facts are drafted for editorial review before publication.