Premier Brad Wall wants both industry and Saskatchewan's new government to look at ways to encourage sustainable development of the province's oil sands resources.

Minister of Energy and Resources, Bill Boyd explains that more than 100 business people from around the country attended an oil sands development seminar recently and explained that there was a lot of interest.

Four million dollars over the course of four years has been committed by Premier Brad Wall for Petroleum Technology Research Centre Funding which will enable the exploration of oil sands development in the province.

An estimated thirty billion barrels of oil remain unreachable at this point in Saskatchewan, however if technology increased recovery rates by only five percent, the remaining recoverable reserves would more than double from their current levels.

While the extent of the province's sand oil resources is still unknown, government geoscientists estimate northwestern Saskatchewan contains over 27,000 square kilometres of land with potential oil sand development.