oil sands

1. Surface deposits of tarry sand that contain large quantities of petroleum.

Notes

The major deposits of oil sands in North America are in the western United States and northern Canada .

Extracting the oil from these sands is difficult and expensive.

Example Sentences

Higher shipping costs mean additional friction for companies working in the Canadian oil sands.

From The Daily Beast

I wonder if Sean Penn will be on site to protest a facility that can handle the Orinoco oil sands?

From The Daily Beast

The pipeline— and the oil sands that will supply the pipeline— are anathema to Obama's wealthy environmentalist donors.

From The Daily Beast

Why couldn't that same pressure cool great caverns below the granite cap below the oil sands?

From Project Gutenberg

Asher was between two layers of granite—one layer under him, and another above him, just below the oil sands.

From Project Gutenberg