At a time when a number of the largest oil and gas reserves reside in countries suffering from political or social volatility, Canada’s stability enforces its current position as the world’s second-largest exporter of natural gas and ninth-largest exporter of oil. Private access to these reserves further stokes investor interest. According to a 2010 report produced by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), the majority (77%) of the world’s oil reserves are owned or controlled by national governments. Only 23% of total world oil reserves are accessible for private-sector investments, 51% of which are found in Canada’s oil sands.

Yet for all these advantages, Canadian oil faces one substantial challenge: the difficulty of extraction. In 2009, 49% of Canada’s oil production was from unconventional sources, a figure that is steadily growing. These sources are notoriously difficult to extract economically, but account for over 97% of Canada’s resources, according to some estimates. In this report, we take a more detailed look at the technologies that have enabled Canada to recover from the global financial crisis and Alberta’s royalty fiasco and how they can unlock the full potential of Canadian reserves.