A heavy black crude oil can be produced from the Athabasca oil sands of Alberta, Can. Evaluating this oil delivered by pipeline to the Ontario market for solid fuels where it would bring about 35 cents per million Btu, and pricing it back to the site of production in Alberta more than 2,000 miles away, indicates an on-site value of about $1.40 per bbl. An evaluation based upon the California market shows a similar result. Evaluating the raw crude as a thermal energy source fuel in the local market results in a value of about $1.00 per bbl for the oil. When one assumes the usual financial structure for fixed costs, interest, depreciation, operating costs, and profit, the $1.00 to $1.40 per bbl on-site value of the oil indicates limits on the production investment of about $45 to $63 million for a plant producing 30,000 bpd of the raw crude oil. (23 refs.)