We Got into the PIT | Alberta Oil Sands

[@AaronWitt]

How much are you paying for gas these days?

[@lonestar1775]

$4.65/ gallon, Lebanon PA

[@jackbarry9469]

It's down to $3.40/gal, greater ST LOUIS area

[@Sicktrickintuner]

1.80/L in Ontario for diesel

[@trevorjohnson2168]

@@jackbarry9469 closer to $4 across the river in Helliniois

[@Andersonjordan115]

$3.37/gallon. Western WI

[@radleo2291]

I work up here, not in the mine but over in the plant. It's nice to see you out showing the good side of what we do.

[@Fossillarson]

back in 2008 i getting email offers for .01 cent stocks for the oil sands. I wounder how much them pennies could made say one was to toss $100 bill at it

[@BrendanDunne94]

Hey man, I have a question for you if you don't mind.. I'm from Ireland and thinking of going to Fort McMurray to run a haul truck or something along those lines.. my question is, is it worth it? What is the work life balance and money like? If you don't mind answering I'd be really grateful. Thanks

[@radleo2291]

@@BrendanDunne94 I don't know what it is like to work in the mine because I am process operator in the plant. I will say though there is a big difference if you have a job with the main company or a contractor. But either way you are going to be making pretty good money, more if you are with one of the companies. Work life balance is what you make of it honestly, if you like overtime it is usually there to be had and if not then don't ask for it and enough your down time. I do a 3 days 3 nights then 6 off schedule and I really like that. Others shifts are good too depending on what you want in time for days off. Hope that helps.

[@BrendanDunne94]

@radleo2291 helps alot man, really appreciate it! Also, is there a demand for labour up there? From what I can see on (Indeed) there seems to be a demand, but I just want to make sure.

[@radleo2291]

@@Fossillarson I think you would be walking around looking like Floyd Mayweather but now.

[@fizz4477]

Really nice to see someone say positive things about what we do up here in the oil sands. Really appreciate you mentioning the reclamation and how it all gets brought back to how it was. Keep up the awesome videos!👍

[@tylermcmahon8157]

lol

[@Cody-hx1uq]

Pfft. Sure buddy. No environmental impact whatsoever.

[@Cody-hx1uq]

🤡

[@galvinstanley3235]

The positive things you guys do?the environmental runoff from your mining of that tar sand is killing fish and making people sick from drinking contaminated water.

[@carlfalt174]

Thank you for showing the oilsands reclamation process because the environmentalists have vilified the industry horribly. It's important that this story be told because it a good business that provides good jobs and an essential product for North America.

[@jonasbrock3959]

Lets be honest: it's definitly not the best for the environment, but at least it's better than russia, south america and africa, where they just let millions of litres of oil spill into the environment. Mining might be bad for the environment, but we couldn't live without it and watching these machines at work is just amazing.

[@brendancooney9401]

Cigarette manufacturers used to do the same, with the environment it’s called greenwashing. The extraction itself is causing damage, and the burning of the oil just adds more GHG’s to the atmosphere. It’s time to move on. Yes I’m an environmental scientist so I have some knowledge, not everything but some. Wonder how long this post lasts. ;-)

[@brendancooney9401]

Yes the machinery is fascinating, love the power, but it does damage and their is no getting away from that.

[@AaronWitt]

fossil fuel still makes the world go round

[@carlfalt174]

@@AaronWitt Amen

[@quinn7174]

I work up here in Fort McMurray, its good to see some light being put on us in the world with guys like you! Thanks !

[@AaronWitt]

awesome. Maybe we'll cross paths one day!

[@jankington216]

As respectful as the creator is, I don't think anybody looks at this huge area of land and thinks to themselves "Boy am I glad some oil company is going to town ripping it apart" like we all hate the industry you work for and will vote to regulate it to the point it can't function

[@odysseyr7]

@@jankington216 ok big man

[@lillafirebirdmannen]

@@jankington216 cry about it

[@BrendanDunne94]

Hey man, I have a question for you if you don't mind.. I'm from Ireland and thinking of going to Fort McMurray to run a haul truck or something along those lines.. my question is, is it worth it? What is the work life balance and money like? If you don't mind answering I'd be really grateful. Thanks

[@bobsmith2637]

Petroleum coke can also be used to make anodes for aluminum smelting or burned as fuel. It can sometimes be used in steelmaking but you have to be careful as it can contain fairly high amounts of trace metals or other heavy impurities that were in the oil. I work for CN Rail and we haul a lot of it away from Fort McMurray, sometimes as 100+ car unit trains for export through Prince Rupert, British Columbia.

[@farmerbrown08]

Just finished a pipeline project for one of the larger mines here in Alberta. Awesome working showing off the industry!

[@AaronWitt]

hopefully we can get onto some pipeline projects soon!

[@MrBOOM546]

@@AaronWitt Would be sick if you could show off the CGL project, they got slopes so steep they use cable cranes to lower the pipe in.

[@Adam1911M]

Alberta Oil Sands , biggest reclamation clean up in the world providing hundreds of thousands of good paying jobs to people all over the WORLD!!! And we haven’t even scratched the surface, under 1% in fact. Support ALBERTA clean oil and gas!!!!!

[@bagelhunt]

Clean O&G is an oxymoron

[@Adam1911M]

@@bagelhunt I imagine you’re the type that thinks windmills and solar panels are clean , and that electricity comes from the wall plug in your house! Right on bud

[@bagelhunt]

@@Adam1911M relative to O&G it is green. But if you want to be binary about it and make it a zero sum game then go ahead. All I stated was that Clean Oil and gas is an oxymoron. You know nothing of my opinion on the subject and yet you throw an infantile tantrum.

[@bagelhunt]

@ted kaczynski are you having a stroke?

[@bagelhunt]

@ted kaczynski implying I'm vaccinated

[@johnthevirgin]

Thank you for talking about the equipment!!! Great description and detail! Just started my job at Caterpillar so it’s nice to learn more about the equipment my company produces lol.

[@AaronWitt]

sweet!!!

[@joycehofer9385]

Money right there, I used to work in the oilfield that life style was so addicting, the money the smell of oil the mud energy rules the world

[@keithbroom9614]

About 15 ish years ago company I work for had a water filtration system went to this area for BP oil sands. In layman's terms they would dump the oil saturated sand into a tank, mix with water, boil it, skim the oil off the top, send it through a couple cycles of this, reclaim the sand for return to the mine. The system we built was water filtration to keep reusing the water indefinitely. It was a joint project with many companies involved to build the system. Left central WI via 7 semis. Took 3 weeks to get there. 35mph max Night travel only. Due to the weight and size it was transported in February for frozen weight road limits, could not cross a bridge or fit under one. Just plain massive and heavy. I always thought they would be better off to just build it on sight but the claim was it was so cold most of the year that was not possible.

[@AaronWitt]

that's amazing

[@Watchingvids13]

Feel like Witt is mike rowes younger brother. That’s a compliment, thanks for the awesome videos

[@AaronWitt]

I will happily take the complement thank you

[@dustinbrown8468]

When I first seen your video in my feed, I thought “oh great another smear piece of our energy sector”. I was dead wrong. Excellent video and very informative. I’ve work SAGD (steam assisted gravity drainage) north and south of fort Mac since 2007. It an awesome place to work and the people in this region are some of the greatest people on earth bar none!!!!! Cheers to all my brothers and sister out there in the patch! Stay safe out there👍

[@ignorthepain]

Its nice to see someone not bad mouthing a clean up of a natural occurance.

[@k9xmysterious385]

Aaron please touch on the heavy equipment technician role. I feel as if we need to show these diesel tech jobs that keep the biggest heavy equipment working and moving the world! As a tech from Canada we see kids from high school chasing a degree, but the trades are very vital to our economy.

[@AaronWitt]

We will feature more techs soon

[@Brandon-218]

Canadians are extraordinary people. Good to see the oilsands getting some highlight.🍻

[@__Dave__]

Talk about high cost of production holy cow that’s a lot of earth getting moved

[@ajevans2001]

Its nice seeing some great videos made about the Canadian oil sands. I work in some of the other mines, i was hired by morgan cons. but didnt take their position, wild to think i couldve been there.

[@backwoodsbuildingandfixing9223]

Don't worry, you dodged a bullet.

[@ajevans2001]

@@backwoodsbuildingandfixing9223 Oh I know now, they were the first to offer me a job. Couldve went with Thompsons but I apparently dodged a bullet there too

[@henrymorrey4150]

I worked in the oil sands for years and it’s not what the media say, they only import a small amount of oil from other countries and inject it into the sand and rivers and drinking water supplies…. Very minimal, because the oil companies know that any publicity is good publicity. They are still working on the technology to find and somehow refine Canadian oil sands, they say (secretly) that they might be a few years away from a break through

[@frasermackenzie7275]

Morgan and Thompson have the highest turnover.

[@snardvark9699]

We use the coke for cathodic protection semi deep wells, it makes the soil surrounding the anode much more conductive and allows the anodes to last longer.

[@johntheball]

I use coke because im not very confident.

[@KylexSheppard]

@@johntheball ahahhahahhahaha

[@PeakCasual]

Was this at Suncor Baseplant? (Assuming you can even say) Those look like the our Visitor badges. I'm around the main plant and tank farms all day, and despite working here for 9 months, have never actually been in the mine.. Glad to see someone covering our oil sands in the proper light. Truth is, Oil and Gas is a dirty business, but *nobody* does Oil Sands better than we do. It's a shame the rest of the world, and even the rest of Canada, doesn't see it that way.

[@AaronWitt]

that's the spot

[@sachadoucet9703]

That's because these projects are destroying the environment still, while producing less jobs, and more profit for oil companies.

[@ChrisPatrick-q6k]

The biggest gift, they'll keep us in oil for deacdes. Bless the oil sands.

[@PHATDAN420x]

It’s crazy the huge scale of the mines up here, born and raised in fort mcmurray and been in the oil sands mine since I was 18

[@AaronWitt]

awesome

[@tool8204]

I'm an 789C/D Op. in New Zealand in a Gold mine. pretty cool trucks. always stuns me how big a 797 compare to a 789 is.

[@sayinbruce734]

Cool video!! I’m a surveyor up here in fort Mcmurray, I worked on pond 5 ( where the Coke Placement is ) in 2010. I was on the beach the day the first truck load got dumped there. They built a few roads at first creating a waffle fry pattern and later filled in the holes to make it one giant surface. I was out there for 2.5 years. I’m glad I’m not anymore haha. Awesome video

[@MrBOOM546]

Fort Mac is a different world I’ll tell ya

[@AaronWitt]

it's wild

[@bksduskmirror1250]

Cleaning up the world biggest oil spill.

[@caveman5943]

That's awesome. I work at a rock quarry and that equipment is so much larger then what I use. I'd love to run equipment that big one day

[@ArtStoneUS]

The same people who want lots of federal spending to build roads, airports and highways are the same ones who would condemn rock quarries for destroying the environment

[@AlexFuturemark]

Dang dude, the quality of your vids is amazing! Keep it up, you’ll hit 1m subs soon

[@AaronWitt]

thanks for watching Alex!!

[@KyleJewell]

I haul lots upto those oilsands sites. Nice to see a good video being done about them

[@kencouch6777]

You should get ahold of South West Terminal in Saskatchewan to learn about how we get crop from field to table. I'm pretty sure they'd be more than welcoming

[@cthunter41]

We used to load 777 to about 130 ton when I drove em at a rock quarry 😆. They are awesome machines

[@mattgaming8717]

Good idea chain welding the bucket

[@bobsmoot8454]

Nice overview of the subs responsibilities on a surface mine.

[@beachoperator666]

Aaron, I absolutely love these videos. Keep up the great work!

[@AaronWitt]

thank you for watching!!

[@danielmarshall4587]

Great vid cheers and BIG UP to your host for letting you and us a look around their operation.

[@neilwade3119]

Love it. I’ve worked in Alberta for half my life. Thermal engineering. And running heavy equipment.

[@preblewtf]

I can’t wait to see the Suncor one you just did. I’m amazed they let y’all in! Going to be a huge hit for you!

[@frasermackenzie7275]

Oh don't worry Suncor was there. No one films on site without company eyes watching. Definitely at least one "corporate" security vehicle was present, let alone the dozen other Suncor vehicles parked within eye shot. Also not actually in the productive mine pits.

[@preblewtf]

@@frasermackenzie7275 it was a crew bus, with a couple managers, a field supervisor and their crew. They were all over even in the oil pits. I was there that day. K shift

[@JacobJustIts]

Man I wish I could get a chance to drive something like that someday, or at least see it in person haha

[@MrBOOM546]

You'd make 200,000+ a year driving a haul truck in the mines to boot lol

[@sethhartranft]

don’t wish buddy put in the work lol i’m a 19 year old union HDD drill operator and it’s possible

[@Stubbz_07]

@Matte Hummel easily over $200k I’m 19 driving 60tonne and making $130k - $150k. The hauls are making an average of $10-$15 more an hour than I am.

[@MrBOOM546]

@@Stubbz_07 Pretty sure suncor pays +$50 an hour for haul trucks

[@heo9927]

@@seagalstrong where

[@yanceyloyless3713]

A fun video in the future might highlight the reclamation process. Great video

[@DKSorg]

#SAGD is another GREAT way to Extract our Oil Sands. As a Kid, when swimming in the river we would get Tar Balls stuck to us.... Naturally found in the River bed and along the edges of the river. A TOUR of the OLD Mine behind Abasand helps build the picture of where & how it started.

[@frasermackenzie7275]

So that big hill of trees(seen from Fort McMurray Golf Course) was part of the old mine?

[@DKSorg]

@@frasermackenzie7275 Not really, But if you go up to Abasand, across from Frank Spragins... now a French School.... that Pathway behind that little Parking Lot.... that leads down to the OLD Mine. You can head to the OLD LOOKOUT -> "The Point" and to the LEFT is the Mine. OR, Follow the Road to the Bottom.

[@jackbarry9469]

You can sell the pet coke (petroleum) to steel mills, we used it to increase carbon in our steel

[@AaronWitt]

they do some of that but they produce so much of it that burying it is still the best bet

[@robertmelnychuk]

You're talking about millions of cubic meters though. Easier and cheaper to waste it back in the pit.

[@danielyates5342]

"I love the sun" - relatable content! But really, excellent job on this one.

[@AaronWitt]

thanks for watching man I appreciate it big time

[@thenorthernhandyman]

Nice shine on that bucket. Were working at a site where a wheel loader was handling Iron ore fines (powder) it's bucket had a mirror polish.

[@Bobcagon]

Keystone Pipeline 2025….Trump and Pollievre… let the oil flow.

[@GW71093]

You ain’t gonna see a drop of that oil, bud. They just want a path to export it. Not very “America first” of you.

[@missmelissa4850]

We go big or go home!! 🇨🇦

[@rushhookhornadventures20]

Such a good episode once again!!

[@Creeppersharp]

I nearly had the opportunity to become a haul truck operator for a coal mine in Sparwood, BC, though I unfortunately didn't get chosen beyond the interview, and man what a missed opportunity it was, these machines look cool to drive definitely make you feel powerful

[@AaronWitt]

keep at it

[@dustinalexander157]

How many interview's did you have? I did the automated interview, then a 10 minute phone call, now I have a 45 minute video call on Thursday. Was wondering if you don't mind me asking.

[@Creeppersharp]

@@dustinalexander157 All I did was the automated interview and that was that. I would apply again but their career website states that you can only apply for the position once a year, despite the position still remaining open months after

[@dustinalexander157]

@@Creeppersharp thank you for your response! Best of luck going forward!

[@chrwells]

Hey Aaron, I currently work at Syncrude up here in Fort McMurray in the mine. If you have any more questions about the operations side of these sites, please reach out!

[@Yenohs_ear]

Hi Chris, apx how much oil sand is processed in a 24 hr period? Thanks!

[@AaronWitt]

awesome thank you Chris hopefully we're back soon

[@chrwells]

@@Yenohs_ear about 360 loads from 400ish ton trucks in a 12 hr. shift. So about 144k ton. Can be more, can be less. So double that for 24hr!

[@heo9927]

You guys hiring drivers with no experience for haul truck? Or laborers that become gaul truck drivers after some months?

[@chrwells]

@@heo9927 It depends on the company. I know alot of the companies that so contract work for the big sites up here are always looking. Talent pool is limited, and they offer OTJ training. Check out North American or Fort McKay Group of Companies

[@fishingwithash6246]

Those boards are called sediment poles. Used on a lot on landfill jobs when they build new caps.

[@AaronWitt]

ah yeah same settlement issues in landfills. Awesome

[@evilchaperone]

I'll be up to the pits in May. They are having a bear problem and need a hand thinning them out.

[@maksz6204]

Good job very good, make video cat 798ac and cat 6090, terex rh 400 if possible ! They work there on the oil sands!

[@4069ish]

I’m pretty sure Petroleum Coke was what we used to pack electrodes in for baking. They are used for melting steel.

[@OverwatchSIX]

5:44 ayo Morgan, who's wearing the transmission sucker mask in the 777 🤣🤣🤣

[@mrrolandlawrence]

you want some closeups of the liebherr 9800. that is a BEAST... 43 cubic metre bucket and above. 3 pass loading of ultra class trucks.

[@AaronWitt]

I'd love to find one soon

[@Barz365]

Just found this channel and it tickles my fancy, thank you.

[@AaronWitt]

glad you found us

[@abdiyinis2811]

I drive the Cat 777, 785, 789, 793 in Fort Hills.

[@rolands.6439]

Good honest work!

[@jascollinscork]

Cracking video Aaron and team 👏🏻👏🏻 Love BIG equipment visits AND thanks for answering my question on the chains on your previous video 👍🏻

[@AaronWitt]

Thank you!!

[@Notaproudcanadian]

Thanks for supporting a great Canadian industry and showing the world how responsible we are

[@adamhogeland8033]

Hitachi 3600 is the largest excavator i have ever worked around and 785B was the biggest rock truck i had ever driven

[@maxxx1224]

Metric system for almost everything but Imperial system for Height and Weight most of the time! Welcome to Canada :P hahaha! Another great video, can't wait to see the rest of your Canada vlogs :) !

[@AaronWitt]

thanks Max!

[@111yohan]

yup would love to see it in the winter time how they do it :D

[@realyfe32]

I would like see these machines near the over the road locomotives. Power for power

[@griffin8529]

I love the sound of Diesel engine and I love equipment that use oil and gas and diesel fuel

[@tonespeaks]

@Griffin... enjoy while it lasts.... the future is Electric or Hydrogen.

[@AkaComeau]

Any 6L powerstroke owner knows oil and water does mix 🤣

[@stephenmitchell243]

The world's largest environmental cleanup! The oil oozes into the Athabaska River!

[@ganaarc]

Here in Mongolia so much oil shell deposit here, here no refinery factory basically throwing away just for coals!

[@chriswielenga9882]

Welcome to our “dirty oil” Aaron! 😉. Funny how no one wants to go back to wood and steel tires and horse and buggy and wood stoves and… Are you going up north to the diamond mines?

[@AaronWitt]

hopefully one day!

[@AaronWitt]

hopefully one day!

[@Acheron2010]

Very interesting. Thanks for making this video.

[@avenheavner108]

It was a great video I got a lot of information out of the video. I always learn something when I watch your videos and that’s the thing I like about them! They are so well put together to! Are we going to get a watch me work video of that 6015B loading trucks for a while? That would be cool to see that 6015B work, let me know! Until the next one take care!

[@nickshirley2010]

Hey Aaron!! I work in the Alberta oil sands for North American Construction Group! You should come up to Fort Hills oil sands mine! Would love to meet up! Been a fan and subscriber since you started in 2018!!

[@philcurtis314]

I used to work for north American years ago at the albian and Ruth lake sites. Are they still around up there?

[@wildthunderbird]

I really enjoyed your video. I live in Alberta but have never been up in that part of the province. 😊

[@jonlowe8727]

Great content mate 👍

[@AaronWitt]

Thanks Jon!

[@stevenkeamo8990]

Kinda wish I would’ve taken the job with Morgan construction 😂

[@AaronWitt]

there's always time

[@HowardRiemer]

You see that hill behind the rope loader ?Its slightly different now b/c they have been mining it for a while but I- 15 is on that hill and when Im on my run from Canada to the Mexican border you can see the loaders and trucks depending on where they are working .Its amazing !

[@codyludwig2811]

one thing I know about this mine is its big enough that its 4 mines in 1 I also saw in a magazine where Green Peace tried to shut Fort McMurries mine down

[@nickpool3943]

LARGE Ansul tanks. looks like dry chem, so cool

[@tradingwithtim]

great video keep it up team

[@AaronWitt]

thank you!!

[@ScottKath-Oceana]

Awesome!!! ❤

[@rhunter3406]

I prefer the hard rock stuff. cool to see surface drills drilling down for them to blast the surface away.

[@MrBOOM546]

You'd love to see the coastal gaslink then. Too bad projects like that don't love cameras on site

[@nathanpierce7796]

You should definitely go and tour the nutrien phosphate mine in aurora North Carolina they have huge drag lines, fresh 374s,fresh 745 haul trucks if you can get the permission to go in there it would be a great opportunity to film

[@AaronWitt]

funny enough we're working on that one now

[@nathanpierce7796]

@@AaronWitt looking forward to watching it!

[@uaredogwater5380]

That's the company I work for right now, Morgan 🤣

[@Daniel-uj1nu]

Love that into dialogue ahahaha XD

[@ernierundall1336]

Great video I miss Running equipment

[@richardgwilliam7449]

Great content awesome machines

[@AaronWitt]

thanks for watching!

[@bcsbbq7829]

This was badass

[@jakemocci3953]

Real Canadians in this video

[@TheMarkpee]

Nice!

[@tomtabbert7364]

You mentioned that there was not a commercial use for the coke byproduct. Suncor sends a lot of their coke to the rail head (lynton siding) just south of Fort McMurray's airport to be shipped overseas to be used in the manufacturing of steel,

[@AaronWitt]

yeah I meant a majority of it. The amount exported is still small compared to how much they bury for reclamation

[@eurobrowarriormonk7182]

yeah i do not know what kind of silliness in this upside down world we are in to cause them to put coke back in the ground but to in a world where european electricity prices have recently hit 1000 dollars a MWH and newcastle coal is 450 dollars a ton . To say pet coke has no marketable value is ridiculous.

[@ninetyseven7656]

Thanks

[@num1loaderman]

Nice to see where i work for 3 years on d 10 for aecon construction at Suncor .II would like to see some videos on 973 cat track loader iv'e run them sine 1980.

[@blakeportch119]

Hey Aaron. When are you going to make a trip to Western Australia? We don't use diggers below 600/400 tonne, no small gear

[@mrivantchernegovski3869]

Thats freedom coming out of the ground

[@punkineatr9095]

lol 😁

[@WanderingExistence]

Freedom and cataclysmic climate change 💪💪

[@ktrocknerd]

Sure thing bud, not bald eagle freedom, beaver and maple syrup flavoured freedom

[@MAXIMUSMINIMALIST]

@@WanderingExistenceok MANBEARPIG

[@WanderingExistence]

@@MAXIMUSMINIMALIST I hope you realize that that South Park reference is very outdated, especially since Matt and Trey created their follow-up episode 'Time To Get Cereal', in which they conveyed their regret for denying climate change. Hope that helps, brah.

[@glennrhinehart3186]

Very interesting. Thank you

[@crash6674]

how is this economically viable vs pumping with wells?

[@pin65371]

Butter gets that oil off really well.

[@lifeistooshort649]

Im surprised Suncor approved this but u definitely made made them sound like a nice comany😂

[@jeremyslade6867]

Yeah, it’s used for tailings

[@edwardcostello8833]

I live by one of the refineries that separates that stuff in whiting Indiana

[@banker2679]

They take dirty oily soil and clean it then replace it with nice clean soil. Sounds like an environmentally friendly process to me.