Oil Sands: Rock Physics Analysis from Well Data, Alberta, Canada

The common properties of bitumen are: high specific gravity, low hydrogen to carbon ratios, high carbon residues, and high contents of asphaltenes, heavy metal, sulphur and nitrogen. Since it is very viscous, it does not flow so easily. Bitumen has gravity of about 10.3 API which translates into its density about 1.3 g/cc. Bitumen deposits mostly found at very shallow depth, where temperature doesn't exceed 15°C. Therefore in-situ bitumen acts as a solid, since bitumen properties depend on temperature. The less temperature is in a formation the more viscous bitumen is. Hence velocities and modulus of bitumen will also depend on temperature.