Crude oil and natural gas: Supply and disposition, September 2018
Archived Content
Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.
Released: 2018-12-11
Canadian production of crude oil and equivalent products totalled 21.1 million cubic metres (132.6 million barrels) in September, up 5.7% compared with the same month in 2017.
Crude bitumen and synthetic crude moving in opposite directions
Non-upgraded production of crude bitumen surpassed 9.0 million cubic metres for the third consecutive month, to reach 9.3 million cubic metres (+15.0%) in September. In the first nine months of 2018, crude bitumen production has averaged 8.9 million cubic metres per month compared with 7.8 million cubic metres over the same period in 2017.
Non-upgraded crude bitumen production consisted of in-situ crude bitumen (+1.7%), plus mined crude bitumen (+7.6%), minus crude bitumen sent for further processing (-11.6%).
In September, production of synthetic crude oil decreased 11.8% from the same month in 2017, due in part to a planned turnaround at an Alberta facility. September marked the third consecutive month in which synthetic crude decreased. Meanwhile, light and medium crude oil production increased 8.2%, while heavy crude oil was down 1.7%.
Chart 1
Production of crude oil and equivalent products
Oil sands extraction and oil extraction
Crude oil production (excluding equivalent products) totalled 19.3 million cubic metres in September, up 4.9% from the same month a year earlier.
Oil sands extraction, which consists of non-upgraded crude bitumen and synthetic crude oil, increased 5.0% from the previous September to 13.5 million cubic metres. Over the same period, extraction of light, medium and heavy crude oils rose 4.8% to 5.8 million cubic metres.
Chart 2
Crude oil and oil sands extraction
Provincial production
Alberta produced 17.4 million cubic metres of crude oil and equivalent products in September, up 6.7% from the same month a year earlier.
Alberta (82.8%), Saskatchewan (11.1%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (3.5%) accounted for the vast majority of Canadian production.
Exports and imports
Exports of crude oil and equivalent products were up 8.4% to 16.9 million cubic metres in September. Exports to the United States by pipelines rose 1.7% to 14.7 million cubic metres, and have averaged a 4.4% year-over-year growth since the start of 2018.
Exports to the United States by other means, including rail, truck and marine continued to increase in September. This category of exports has averaged a 22.5% year-over-year rise so far in 2018.
Exports to other countries totalled 5.9 million cubic metres in the first nine months of 2018, compared with 1.8 million cubic metres in all of 2017.
Meanwhile, imports of crude oil to refineries decreased 13.0% to 2.6 million cubic metres from the same month in 2017.
Chart 3
Exports and imports of crude oil and equivalent products
Closing inventories
Inventories of crude oil and equivalent products were up 13.3% from September 2017 to close at 19.1 million cubic metres. This was the fourth time in the last five months where closing inventories surpassed 19.0 million cubic metres.
Natural gas production
Canadian marketable natural gas production totalled 13.9 billion cubic metres in September, up 3.2% from the same month a year earlier. Production of natural gas was concentrated in Alberta (69.5%) and British Columbia (28.5%).
Additional information on natural gas is available in "Natural gas transmission, storage and distribution," published in The Daily on November 26, 2018.
Quarterly changes in crude
For the quarter ending September 30, 2018, production of crude oil and equivalents totalled a record 67.2 million cubic metres (+7.8%), surpassing the previous high of 64.4 million cubic metres set in the first quarter of 2018.
The overall increase was largely due to a 15.1% increase in non-upgraded production of crude bitumen, while production of equivalent products and light and medium crude oil were also up. Conversely, synthetic crude was down 6.2% compared with the same quarter in 2017, while heavy crude was down 1.0% over the same period.
Exports of crude oil and equivalent products totalled 52.3 million cubic metres in the third quarter of 2018, up 9.7% from the same quarter in 2017. Exports to the United States by pipelines increased 3.3%, while exports by other means to the United States increased 43.2% over the same period.
Quarterly imports by refineries were up 5.4% to 8.8 million cubic metres, representing the highest level since the second quarter of 2017.
Chart 4
Quarterly production and exports of crude oil and equivalents
Quarterly changes in natural gas
For the quarter ending September 30, 2018, marketable production of natural gas totalled 42.8 billion cubic metres, up 5.3% from the same quarter in 2017.
Note to readers
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.
Data on crude oil and equivalent products, previously found in table 25-10-0014, are now published in table 25-10-0063. While table 25-10-0014 will remain available for reference, users should exercise caution when comparing data with those of the new table.
Information on the disposition of crude oil and equivalent products to refineries by province and on exports to the United States by district were discontinued. New data on imports, exports, input to Canadian refineries and inventories were added to table 25-10-0063.
As of the January 2018 reference month, in accordance with the North American Industry Classification System 2017 update, conventional crude oil will be referred to as crude oil extraction, while non-conventional crude oil will be referred to as oil sands extraction.
Data from August 2018 have been revised.
Crude oil and equivalent products include heavy, light and medium crude oil, synthetic crude oil, crude bitumen, condensate, and pentanes plus.
Export data are a combination of National Energy Board data and survey respondents' data.
Import data include imports of crude oil by refineries and by others.
Total marketable gas includes receipts from fields, gas gathering systems and/or gas plants.
The crude oil and natural gas supply and disposition program uses respondent data as well as administrative data provided by federal, provincial and territorial authorities with regulatory responsibilities within their respective jurisdictions.
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).
- Date modified: