Until recently, most oil sands were extracted via mining. However 80 percent of the Athabasca oil sands are too deep to mine.

Where bitumen is too deep to mine, steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) technology, first used in the 1970s, has become the recovery method of choice. Virtually all existing or planned in-situ oil sands developments are using SAGD.

For the first and subsequent phases of the Long Lake Project, purpose-built mobile rigs are being used to drill horizontal wells in pairs, from strategically located pads.

Steam is injected into the upper well; it rises, forming a “steam chamber” that heats the bitumen, reduces its viscosity and allows it to flow through precision-cut slots in the lower production well. Bitumen collected in the production well is pumped or flows to the surface, where it is treated (associated water is separated and recycled) prior to upgrading.