Editing Alberta (section)

==== Oil extraction ====
[[File:Petroleum resources in Alberta, according to the Argonne National Labs.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Petroleum resources in Alberta]]
Alberta is the largest producer of [[petroleum|conventional crude oil]], [[synthetic crude]], [[natural gas]] and gas products in Canada. Alberta is the world's second-largest exporter of natural gas and the fourth-largest producer.<ref name="Alaska and Alberta - An Overview">{{cite web |url=http://economic.alberta.ca/documents/Alaska-AB.pdf |title=Alaska – Alberta Relations |publisher=Government of Alberta |access-date=May 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611125209/http://economic.alberta.ca/documents/Alaska-AB.pdf |archive-date=June 11, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Two of the largest producers of [[petrochemical]]s in North America are in central and north-central Alberta. In both Red Deer and Edmonton, [[polyethylene]] and [[Polyvinyl chloride|vinyl]] manufacturers produce products that are shipped all over the world. Edmonton's [[oil refinery|oil refineries]] provide the raw materials for a large [[petrochemical industry]] to the east of Edmonton.

The [[Athabasca oil sands]] surrounding [[Fort McMurray]] have estimated [[unconventional oil]] reserves approximately equal to the conventional oil reserves of the rest of the world, estimated to be {{convert|1.6|e12oilbbl|km3}}.<ref name="a496">{{cite web |title=How Much CO2 Comes from Alberta Crude Oil? Much More Than You Think |website=Alberta Beyond Fossil Fuels |date=February 6, 2023 |url=https://albertabeyondfossilfuels.ca/greenhouse-gas-emissions-from-alberta-crude-oil/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon |access-date=July 8, 2024 |archive-date=July 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240708183916/https://albertabeyondfossilfuels.ca/greenhouse-gas-emissions-from-alberta-crude-oil/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon |url-status=live }}</ref> Many companies employ both conventional [[surface mining|strip mining]] and non-conventional [[in situ]] methods to extract the [[bitumen]] from the [[oil sands]].

Another factor determining the viability of oil extraction from the oil sands is the [[price of oil]]. The [[World oil market chronology from 2003|oil price increases since 2003]] have made it profitable to extract this oil, which in the past would give little profit or even a loss. By mid-2014, rising costs and stabilizing oil prices threatened the economic viability of some projects. An example of this was the shelving of the Joslyn North project<ref name="z848">{{cite web |title=Total E&P Canada Ltd. Joslyn North Mine Project |website=Open Government |date=January 22, 2008 |url=https://open.alberta.ca/publications/environmental-assessment-total-e-p-canada-ltd-joslyn-north-mine-project |access-date=July 8, 2024 }}</ref> in the Athabasca region in May 2014.<ref name="TotalJoslyn">{{cite news |title=Cost escalation leads Total to put Joslyn oil sands project on hold |url=https://edmontonjournal.com/business/layoff+talk+swirls+Total+update+Joslyn+oilsands+status/9888984/story.html |access-date=June 14, 2014 |newspaper=Edmonton Journal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605062522/http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/layoff+talk+swirls+Total+update+Joslyn+oilsands+status/9888984/story.html |archive-date=June 5, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

With concerted effort and support from the provincial government, several high-tech industries have found their birth in Alberta, notably patents related to interactive [[liquid-crystal display]] systems.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130809034342/http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5448263.html Interactive display system]—US Patent U.S. Patent No. 5,448,263; {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215131340/http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5448263.html |date=February 15, 2009}}—SMART Technologies</ref>