Thank you, Jana.
That gives you an overview. In our area, in addition to Sarnia, are some of the major hydrocarbon processing areas. There's been a lot of discussion lately regarding the development of Canada's oil sands resources and their future, but extracting the material from the ground is just part of the story.
The bitumen that is extracted from the oil sands is one of the heaviest forms of crude oil in the world, and, unlike conventional oil, must be upgraded before it can be used in the refining process. The upgrading process transforms this very heavy crude oil into a material called “synthetic crude oil” that has properties as good as, if not better than, light sweet oil and can be used at any refinery operation virtually anywhere in the world. These upgraders are very capital-intensive and create huge economic spinoffs in terms of the construction and operation jobs in the region in which they are developed.
But the upgrading of the bitumen into that synthetic crude oil is just the first step in the process. There are other benefits to upgrading that lead to future opportunities. One material that is produced as a byproduct is actually very rich in the basic chemical feedstocks required for the petrochemical industry.
We've looked at these opportunities and how we can advance further up the value chain. Studies done by us in conjunction with the Government of Alberta and supported by the federal government have identified numerous opportunities to actually take our raw resources more towards a consumer-ready type of product.
The bottom line in our analysis is that, at a minimum, two-thirds of the value of the resource in the oil sands lies in the processing of the materials, and the region that processes the materials is the one that's going to gain the most economic opportunity and diversity from these materials.
This trend towards exporting raw products in a raw form with less processing in Canada is becoming apparent when we look at the refining situation in western Canada. In 2000 western Canada as a region was a net exporter of refined products. If you fast-forward to 2008, you'll see that western Canada is actually now a net importer of refined products. A recent study done by the Government of Alberta indicates that if we don't get more processing capacity, western Canada alone could actually be importing 200,000 barrels a day of refined products into our region to meet our needs.
While the west is sort of becoming what's being considered an energy superpower, the trend is to extract the raw products, ship the materials out of the country, and have somebody else process and refine them. We are then buying back the finished products. Not only does this rob us of an economic opportunity, but it has created a situation where in western Canada we are now running into fuel shortages. It seems to happen just about every year now as we rely upon longer and longer supply chains to get diesel to our farmers, our miners, and our logging operations.
So as we said, while the extraction side of the business seems to be enjoying a resurgence in these last days, we cannot say the same thing for the value-added side of the business. A recent report from Alberta's Energy Resources Conservation Board predicts that by 2020 our share of processing of this bitumen material will go from where it's at currently, at about 64%, down to about 44%, unless something is done. What this means is that the majority of our resources will be shipped out in the raw form and other countries will enjoy the benefits and the economic diversity of processing these into consumer-ready types of products.
The lost opportunity we're looking at by exporting these materials is fairly staggering. Based upon the analysis we've done of five individual projects that may or may not go ahead in our region, the economic impacts amount to $40 billion in capital investments, 50,000 person-years of construction jobs, 10,000 person-years of engineering design work, and close to $1 billion in federal and provincial corporate income tax.
Another aspect of this, as well as the environmental interests associated with upgrading, is that our region, the Heartland region, actually has some very good geology for carbon capture and storage in and around the area. In our area we actually have three projects on the go that are looking at carbon capture and storage, supported by the provincial and federal governments.
By tying the processing into a carbon capture and storage project, we can actually reduce the carbon footprint of our oil-sands-based fuels to standards that would actually meet what's being considered in California for carbon-intensity standards. So when we take a look at energy security for Canada, by processing it here and employing carbon capture and storage technologies, we can actually have control over the environmental factors and help set the agenda around this matter.
So what can and should be done? Well, this is a very complex situation. It's something that we are discussing right now with the provincial government. We feel that it's something the federal government, through its policies and processes, needs to consider as a very important part of the agenda for Canada when we look at energy security and how we maintain the maximum economic opportunity for our country.
Thank you.