Bitumen is among the least efficient fuels, as measured by energy return on investment (EROI), the energy spent extracting, processing, and distributing any energy. Conventional oil currently has an EROI of up to 30. (By contrast, hydroelectric and nuclear power have the highest EROI, ranging from 30 to 100. Wind power is between 18 and 50.) But the oil sands have an EROI of between 3 and 5.

...Between 1995 and 2004, oil sands production increased by 113 percent, while provincial revenues from oil sands royalties shrunk by 30 percent. Revenue per barrel of oil equivalent shrunk by more than two-thirds, from $1.60 in 1995 to 50 cents in 2004. The federal government provided millions in research and development money for oil sands projects, offered tax breaks and royalty relief. The oil sands had become one of the most heavily subsidized fossil fuel enterprises in the world.

Don Gillmor, On Oil