A process and apparatus for producing synthetic crude oil from bitumen-bearing sands is described. The apparatus includes a vessel segregated into a pyrolysis zone and a combustion zone, each zone being in the form of a fluidized bed reactor. At least one heat pipe is provided for transferring thermal energy from the combustion zone to the pyrolysis zone where the thermal energy is used to pyrolyze the bitumen. The apparatus may also include additional heat exchange equipment for heating the incoming combustion air for the combustion zone. The combustion air serves as the fluidizing medium for the fluidized bed reactor of the combustion zone while flue gases from the combustion zone serve as the fluidizing medium for the fluidized bed reactor of the pyrolysis zone.