Calgary, Alberta – A new report by the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) reports that Alberta’s annual production of bitumen (oil sands) is forecast to increase to more than one billion barrels by 2017, more than two and a half times the amount produced in 2007.

The report notes the following:

• In 2007, bitumen production surpassed conventional oil production over 250 per cent, with bitumen averaging 1.32 million barrels per day (bpd), compared to conventional oil production of 524,800 bpd.
• The ERCB expects Alberta’s annual bitumen production to increase to more than one billion barrels by 2017.
• Alberta’s total remaining established reserves include 172.7 billion barrels of bitumen and 1.5 billion barrels of conventional oil, with remaining established marketable conventional and coal-bed gas reserves at 39 trillion cubic feet.

  The ERCB report is an independent annual source of information on the state of reserves and the supply and demand for Alberta’s energy resources, including crude bitumen, crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids, coal and sulphur.