The New Boom: 60 Minutes Australia

The New Boom

Sunday, June 15, 2008

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Reporter: Liam Bartlett

Producers: Nick Greenaway and Glenda Gaitz

We don’t have to tell you about the world fuel crisis, we all feel the pain every time we drive into a service station.

But here’s something you may not know.

There is an answer and part of it’s right here in our own backyard.

We are talking about shale oil.

There are huge deposits here in Australia, just waiting to be exploited.

Then there are oil sands, which are already being mined on a massive scale in the wilds of Canada.

It’s an amazing sight, this new frontier.

With tales of untold riches and untapped oil, enough to last more than a hundred years. But, as Liam Bartlett discovered, there is a catch.

Awash in oil money, and problems

Energy Hunt: Fort McMurray was a sleepy town on the Canadian frontier until oil transformed it into a boomtown with tons of opportunities – and concerns.

By CNN’s Ali Velshi and Katie Engelhart

Last Updated: July 10, 2008: 3:32 PM EDT

FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta (CNN) — On a hot summer day, there’s a distinct smell around the remote, northern town of Fort McMurray, Canada. You might think it’s the oil being processed at nearby plants. But most residents will tell you it’s the smell of money.

Most Americans probably don’t know that one third of the world’s known oil deposits are buried in the dirt of Canada’s Alberta province. The Oil Sands of Canada – as they are known – contain the largest known oil deposit in the world, significantly larger than that of Saudi Arabia. One and a half million barrels of oil are extracted from the land every day, most of it sent directly to the U.S.

Alberta supplies about ten percent of America’s imported oil – some of it from conventional wells, but a growing amount from Oil Sands. And the fast-growing industry has turned the town of Ft. McMurray into a bonafide “boomtown” with folks here juggling new riches – and new problems.