Hot water is used to extract (or separate) the bitumen from the oil sand. It is then upgraded to produce “synthetic’ crude oil and other petroleum products. This is done by removing carbon and adding hydrogen to remove impurities such as nitrogen and sulfur. The upgraded product is called “synthetic” because it is altered from its naturally occurring state (bitumen) by a chemical process. Synthetic crude oil is not the same as synthetic oil for vehicles. Synthetic crude oil is very similar to conventional oil, there is just more work involved in upgrading the bitumen.