Oil sands are primarily used for producing useful fuels, such as gasoline, after the key component, bitumen, is extracted and processed.
Oil sands are naturally occurring deposits composed of a mixture of sand, clay, water, and bitumen. The essential fossil fuel component within this mixture is bitumen. Bitumen itself is a very viscous oil.
Before this bitumen can be utilized for practical purposes, it requires significant processing. It must be treated and upgraded through complex processes to transform it into a usable form.
Once treated and upgraded, the bitumen derived from oil sands serves as a source material. It is then used to produce useful fuels. A key example of such a fuel mentioned is gasoline.
In essence, while oil sands themselves are a raw mixture, their value lies in the bitumen they contain, which, after processing, is a source for creating fuels vital for transportation and other energy needs.
