US Oil Sands PR Spring Project Phase 1 has received all required environmental permits and approvals, and its air emissions have been determined to be below EPA thresholds. Utah's oil sands are considered sweet crude, which means they contain 90% less sulphur than the oil found in the Canadian Athabasca oil sands. With low-sulphur oil, US Oil Sands can avoid the emissions associated with the sulphur recovery processes found in other projects.
When delivered to regional refineries, US Oil Sands' bitumen produces less emissions and greenhouse gases than other heavy oils. US Oil Sands uses clean-burning natural gas for process heating and electrical generation. Since the process creates no tailings ponds and recycles its free water, heating requirements and pumping horsepower are much lower than other projects, thereby reducing fuel use and the associated greenhouse gas emissions. The project also claims the highest oil recovery efficiency of any oil sands project, thereby also reducing its per barrel greenhouse gas profile.
