June 27, 2007 (LPAC)--Canada's Alberta province is planning to set up a nuclear power plant which would provide the thermal heat necessary to extract oil from its oil sands. With neighboring Saskatchewan province being one of the top producers of uranium in the world, the option is getting more tempting to the Canadian oil producers.

The oil sands, also known as tar sands, contain a form of semisolid oil that requires heat and pressure to extract. Squeezing one barrel of oil from the Athabasca, Peace River and Cold Lake Oil Sands in western Canada requires twice as much energy as pumping it from a conventional well, according to the industry, or three times as much energy, say analysts. As of now, Canada uses natural gas as the heat source for extracting oil from sands.

"We're looking to cut our power needs and eventually turn to another source, and nuclear energy is a possible alternative," said Michael Borrell, president of Total Canada, a subsidiary of French oil firm Total SA.

"We've had interest from investors who would like more information about the possibility of using nuclear energy in Alberta for extraction and refining of oil," Armand Laferrere, president of Areva Canada, told AFP.

At an estimated 173 billion barrels, Canada's oil sands rank second behind Saudi Arabia in petroleum reserves. However, due to high extraction costs, the deposits were long neglected, except by local companies. While crude is pumped from the ground, oil sands must be mined and bitumen separated from the sand and water, then upgraded and refined.