A traditional steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) well pad. Suncor Energy/Flickr

In-situ oil sands extraction has allowed companies operating in the Athabasca region to recover bitumen reserves too deep for traditional truck and shovel mining. In Canada, 96 per cent of the country’s bitumen is located in the Alberta oil sands, and 80 per cent of that reserve is recoverable only through in-situ extraction.