> No production technology is currently applicable to oil
> sand deposits and none are promising in development expected to be brought
> online within the next 20 to 25 years. 77% of this oil is currently unextractable.
>
> If oil reaches $175 to $190 a barrel (in today's dollars) then it might be feasible
> to begin extraction.
This is incorrect in light of current technological advances and the reality on the ground, as I understand it. Canada's PM just signed an agreement of cooperation with China's leader vis-a-vis oil extraction in the oil sands and elsewhere (among other things) and activities by Canadian and multinational entities are proceeding apace, obviously owing to the current per-barrel prices obtainable on the open market. I'll dig up some info when I get home, if I can, but google would lead to many sources. Is it possible the cite you provide is outdated as far as production costs go? Perhaps some less-extreme version of Moore's Law would apply here...
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/ dave /