While heavy oil is abundant, it also presents significant economic and technological challenges Although it is an important energy resource, heavy oil requires an unusually high level of effort and expertise to economically develop and produce. Production rates of this high viscosity, often chemically compromised hydrocarbon are influenced by both the effectiveness of available technology and the supply and affordability of conventional oil. But as energy demands grow, major conventional oil discoveries are rare (and difficult to find) and the costs of discovering and producing conventional oil goes up, the economics of heavy oil will steadily improve.
Today, over 30 countries are known to possess recoverable heavy oil reserves Led by Canada and Venezuela (Canada’s heavy oil deposits rank second only to Saudi Arabia in total oil reserves), active heavy oil-producing countries also include the United States (California), Mexico, Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Chad and Angola.