Oil sands
Since then, coal gas has almost completely been replaced by natural gas as a fuel, and coal tar as a material for paving roads has been replaced by the petroleum product asphalt. Naturally occurring bitumen is chemically more similar to asphalt than to coal tar, and the term "oil sands" (or oilsands) is more commonly used by industry in the producing areas than "tar sands" because synthetic oil is manufactured from the bitumen, and due to the feeling that the terminology of "tar sands" is less politically acceptable to the public. Oil sands are now an alternative to conventional crude oil.