Tar sands in the United States and worldwide are a large potential source of hydrocarbon liquids that has yet to be sufficiently developed. The development of the US tar sand resource lags the worldwide development and poses a challenge that has not been eagerly accepted by the petroleum industry. This paper reviews the developmental status of in situ enhanced oil recovery techniques that have been proposed for the production of heavy oils or bitumen and determines which process or processes are in the forefront for application to the US resource. Also noted is what developmental work, if any, remains to be accomplished before field testing of the process(es). The review used only information available in the public domain. 196 refs., 1 fig., 2 tabs.