There's a couple things that should be distinguished when it comes to oilsands, mining vs in situ (SAGD). I can only speak of SAGD because that's what I know from first hand experience.
If you compare SAGD crude against other heavy oils from around the world, it is similar if not slightly better from a GHG/barrel perspective. This is dependent on a couple of factors, namely the SOR (Steam to Oil Ratio). The lower the SOR the lower the energy requirements to produce a barrel of oil. SAGD is getting lower and lower SORs every year as technology advances, the lowest I've seen is 1.3. Anything less than 2.5 SOR is better than average conventional heavy oil. Some projects are worse depending on the reservoir, but most are achieving that SOR or lower.
If you compare bitumen to heavy oils from around the world, it's not the monster it's been made out to be.
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