Supply and disposition of refined petroleum products, October 2018
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Released: 2019-01-15
Key indicators were mixed in October. Refinery receipts of crude oil and refinery production decreased during the month, while domestic sales of refined petroleum products increased compared with October 2017.
Refinery receipts down
Canadian refineries received 8.1 million cubic metres of crude oil in October, down 2.2% from the same month a year earlier.
Chart 1
Crude oil and equivalent products received by refineries
Over the same period, domestic crude oil received by refineries was up 2.6% to 5.8 million cubic metres.
Imports of crude oil to refineries decreased 12.5% to 2.3 million cubic metres.
Crude oil inventories held at refineries totalled 3.4 million cubic metres in October, up 21.8% from the same month in 2017, and marking a third consecutive monthly increase.
Crude oil used in refinery production declines
Total crude oil and equivalent products used in refinery production decreased 4.4% year over year to 8.0 million cubic metres in October.
Refinery production down and sales up
Production of refined petroleum products was down 1.8% year over year to 9.1 million cubic metres in October.
Over the same period, domestic sales were up 11.5% to 10.4 million cubic metres. The main contributors to the increase were motor gasoline (+9.3%) and diesel fuel oil (+10.8%).
Chart 2
Domestic sales by product
Imports and exports decline
In October, Canadian imports of refined petroleum products, which tend to be volatile, totalled 1.1 million cubic metres, down 35.2% from the same month a year earlier.
Meanwhile, exports of refined petroleum products declined 31.2% to 1.6 million cubic metres.
Inventories down
Closing inventories of refined petroleum products held by refineries decreased 0.8% year over year to 7.6 million cubic metres in October.
Note to readers
The Monthly Refined Petroleum Products survey collects data on the activities of every Canadian refinery involved in the production of refined petroleum products (North American Industry Classification System [NAICS] 324000) and of selected major distributors of these products (NAICS 412000).
In early 2019, this Daily article will be part of a new consolidated monthly energy release where data from multiple monthly energy surveys will be released on the same day.
Additionally, the monthly refined petroleum products program will be updated starting with the January 2019 reference month.
Crude oil and equivalent charged are combined with other materials charged as feedstocks to calculate total refinery production in order to obtain total refined petroleum products plus refinery losses.
Total other materials charged as feedstocks are materials from petroleum or other sources which are external to the refinery and which are charged to the refinery as inputs.
Refinery losses are the volume difference between production of refined petroleum products and crude oil and other materials charged. Most products produced by modern refineries have a specific gravity (density) that is lighter than crude oil. The resulting volumetric gain is shown as deduction from refinery production to ensure balancing of outputs and inputs.
Domestic sales include all sales by reporting companies, excluding exports and sales to other reporting companies.
Refinery receipts of crude oil and equivalent hydrocarbons (condensates and pentanes plus) from domestic and foreign sources are for refinery consumption or storage.
Data are subject to revisions.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).
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