Facts About Canadian Oil

Alberta

In 2019, Alberta produced 80.5% of the entire country’s oil production. It’s understandable why Canadian oil companies want to focus their efforts on this province. Alberta has a huge oil sand potential with only a small portion used so far.

The oil sands production spreads on over 142,000 sq. km. in the northern part of the province. Athabasca is adequate for surface mining, while Peace River and Cold Lake require drilling.

British Columbia

This province has a huge potential, but it only contributed to the country’s petroleum with 2.4% in 2019. According to reports, only two refineries still do business in British Columbia. You’ll find that natural gas is in the province’s focus, while light crude oil takes a smaller portion of the total production.

Saskatchewan

You’ll find natural gas condensate, heavy and light crude oils produced in Saskatchewan. The province has a couple of oil upgraders and refiners, while its oil fields come from the WC Sedimentary Basin. The estimations are that this province takes around 10.5% of the country’s oil production.

Manitoba

Manitoba contributes about 0.9% to the country’s petroleum. The majority of events occur in the southwest, but the reports indicate there’s almost no heavy oil. It’s also notable that Manitoba doesn’t have any oil refineries.

Canada oil exports focus on a single country – the United States. The information available shows that 3.67 million barrels are exported to the US daily. That’s 98% of the total country’s export. The remaining 2% go to countries in Europe and Asia. However, it’s evident that there’s a tight relationship with the USA in this area as they take 48% of their imports from Canda.

According to Statista, Canada imported 32.9 million metric tons in 2019. In the last five years, the country imported $86.4 billion worth of oil, which many describe as too much.

As for Canada oil imports by country, the majority comes from the US. In 2019, it was $13.8 billion, which is 79% of the total import. Saudi Arabia is the second largest exporter to Canada (12%), followed by Russia (2%), United Kingdom (1%), and Norway (1%).

If we analyze the last several years, we discover that Canada daily oil production is recovering after a setback caused by the COVID-19 pandemics. The last available information for September 2020 indicates that the country’s production was at 3.789M. That’s more compared to the previous month when the production was 3.718M.

However, if you compare the latest values to a previous couple of years, you’ll see the Canadian oil fields aren’t being used to their max. In 2018, the monthly value was always over 4 billion, and it even reached 4.67M in December 2019. Unfortunately, the pandemics caused the values to decrease during 2020.

WCS is among the biggest streams of crude oil in Canada and North America. Their costs vary depending on what happens in the market. From February to April 2020, the pandemics knocked down the cost. The lowest price of a barrel of the oil Canada streams had was in April when the cost was $3.5 per barrel.

The price stabilized itself over the second half of 2020. The estimations are that it’s now around $30-$50 per barrel, although it constantly varies because of market fluctuations.