> First, to send bitumen through a pipeline, a diluent to make the bitumen flow more easily must be added, and that diluent is often 30 percent or more of the v

> First, to send bitumen through a pipeline, a diluent to make the bitumen flow more easily must be added, and that diluent is often 30 percent or more of the volume traveling through the pipeline My first that was that even though this seems like a good idea there's no way oil companies would go for the added expense, but I didn't realize there was so much additive already needed when oil is sent through a pipeline. > That said, Auld was explicit that a solution like CanaPux probably wouldn't work for anything but the heaviest of crudes. "The heavier your crude oil is, the less polymer you need [to make CanaPux] and the more diluent you need" to send that oil through a pipeline, Auld said. In those specific cases, the economics favor CanaPux. Lighter crudes, on the other hand, flow through pipelines much easier and would need a lot more polymer additive to be made into solid form.