To most readers, the oil flowing through the Keystone pipeline in Oklahoma to Gulf Coast refineries is just oil. But the stuff coming out of Canada that eventually will flow through the Keystone XL pipeline once it’s completed in Nebraska, South Dakota and Montana comes from tar sands.
A most fascinating pictorial story of how the oil is mined in Alberta and converted into oil was published earlier this year on Business Insider. The pictures reveal in detail the process of mining oil-laden sand from the ground and removing oil from it.
They also reveal how TransCanada and other companies are returning the land to use by wildlife.