With the progression of fields in the Alberta Oil Sands region, producers are increasingly relying on in-situ methods of recovery, particularly for deposits too far down to allow mining methods. The most common method of bitumen recovery is Steam Assisted Gravity Draining (SAGD), which currently consumes large amounts of natural gas in the production of steam. In fact, natural gas makes up nearly two-thirds of the entire operating expense of a SAGD facility. Producers are looking for a more economic alternative, while regulatory bodies such as Alberta Environment (AENV) would like to encourage producers to reduce usage of this relatively clean energy source.