Cheap option to the oil sands emerges as hot play in Canada

Just 125 mi southwest of the Fort McMurray oil-sands hub in northern Alberta, investors are rushing to secure rights to land that produces crude at much lower costs than the massive operations the region’s known for. That’s because beneath the area’s characteristic oil-rich soil, which requires expensive extraction and refining techniques, there’s crude trapped between layers of rock that can be pumped with conventional gear. More »