Are Oil Sands a Significant Resource? Most of the world's oil sand resources are located in Alberta, Canada. The Alberta Energy and Utility Board estimates that these contain about 1.6 trillion barrels of oil - about 14% of all of the world's total oil resource. The largest deposit is the Athabasca Oil Sands [1]. Oil sands, tar sands, crude bitumen, or more technically bituminous sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit.Oil sands are either loose sands or partially consolidated sandstone containing a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, and water, saturated with a dense and extremely viscous form of petroleum technically referred to as bitumen (or colloquially as tar due to its The final PEIS amends 10 resource management plans and identifies areas that will be made available for potential leasing, exploration, and development of oil shale and tar sands resources. Areas that are made available to oil shale development would first be offered as a research, demonstration, and development (RD&D) lease.