Energy statistics, August 2024
Released: 2024-10-31
25.7 million cubic metres
August 2024
4.1% 
(12-month change)
10.1 million cubic metres
August 2024
1.9%
(12-month change)
668.1 million gigajoules
August 2024
1.3%
(12-month change)
49.0 million megawatt-hours
August 2024
3.0%
(12-month change)
Primary energy production increased 3.3% year over year to 2.0 million terajoules in August, while secondary energy production rose 1.4% to 0.4 million terajoules.
Chart 1
Year over year contribution to change in primary energy production
For more information on energy in Canada, including production, consumption, international trade, and much more, please visit the Canadian Centre for Energy Information portal and follow #energynews on social media.
Natural gas inventory levels reach a series high in August
While both production and deliveries of natural gas rose in August, closing inventories, which have been steadily rising year over year since January 2023, reached a record high in the month.
Closing inventories of natural gas held in Canadian facilities stood at 1.1 billion gigajoules in August, an increase of 15.8% year over year and 5.6% higher than in July 2024. The August storage level was the highest recorded since this data series began in January 2016. Lower demand for heating due to a warmer than usual winter in 2024, coupled with elevated production levels, have resulted in larger amounts of natural gas being injected into storage. In August, storage levels stood at 26.5% above the five-year average for the month.
Production of marketable natural gas was up 1.3% year over year to 668.1 million gigajoules in August, while total deliveries of natural gas to Canadian consumers increased 2.1% year over year to 356.5 million gigajoules.
Chart 2
Canadian natural gas production, total consumption, and closing inventory levels
Electricity generation rises in August
Total electricity generation in Canada climbed 3.0% year over year to 49.0 million megawatt-hours (MWh) in August. Combustible fuels contributed the most to the increase (+7.1%), followed by hydroelectricity (+2.5%), wind (+10.7%), and solar (+9.6%). Ontario (+22.0%) was primarily responsible for the rise in generation from combustible sources.
Imports of electricity from the United States decreased 25.5% year over year to 1.4 million MWh in August. Recent improvements in drought conditions contributed to increased domestic hydroelectricity generation and reduced reliance on US electricity in August, particularly in British Columbia, where imports fell 38.2% year over year. Canadian exports of electricity to the United States were down 6.0% to 3.7 million MWh.
Chart 3
Imports of electricity to British Columbia
Production of all types of crude oil rise
Production of crude oil and equivalent products rose 4.1% to 25.7 million cubic metres in August. This was the 11th consecutive monthly year-over-year increase, as production of all types of crude oil contributed to the gain in August.
Oil sands extraction was the primary driver of the overall increase, up 4.0% to 16.8 million cubic metres year over year in August. This was the highest monthly level of oil sands production since March 2024, with crude bitumen (+3.7%) and synthetic crude (+4.6%) both up in August 2024 from the same month a year earlier.
Exports of crude oil and equivalent products rose 6.6% to 20.5 million cubic metres in August as the Trans Mountain pipeline continued to move more crude oil and petroleum products to the west coast.
Chart 4
Canadian production and exports of crude oil
The newly expanded Trans Mountain Pipeline began operation in May 2024, transporting crude oil and refined petroleum products from Edmonton, Alberta, to the port of Burnaby, British Columbia. This expansion nearly triples the capacity of the existing pipeline built in 1953, opening more Canadian crude oil for export to the global market.
Production and consumption of finished petroleum products rise in August
Production of finished petroleum products climbed 1.9% year over year to 10.1 million cubic metres in August. The increase was mainly attributable to distillate fuel oil, which rose 3.7% to 3.5 million cubic metres.
Meanwhile, consumption of finished petroleum products rose 0.6% to 9.3 million cubic metres in August, with distillate fuel oil (+8.1%) contributing the most to the year-over-year increase.
Chart 5
Production and consumption of distillate fuel oil
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Note to readers
The Energy statistics program relies on data collected from respondents and administrative sources.
The Consolidated energy statistics table (25-10-0079-01) presents monthly data on primary and secondary energy by fuel type (crude oil, natural gas, electricity, coal, etc.) in terajoules and supply and demand characteristics (production, exports, imports, etc.) for Canada. For more information, please consult the Consolidated Energy Statistics Table: User Guide.
Data in this release are not seasonally adjusted.
The survey programs that support the "Energy statistics" release are:
- Crude oil and natural gas (survey number 2198; tables 25-10-0036-01, 25-10-0055-01 and 25-10-0063-01).
- Energy transportation and storage (survey number 5300; tables 25-10-0075-01 and 25-10-0077-01).
- Natural gas transmission, storage and distribution (survey numbers 2149, 5210 and 5215; tables 25-10-0057-01, 25-10-0058-01 and 25-10-0059-01).
- Refined petroleum products (survey number 2150; table 25-10-0081-01).
- Renewable fuel and hydrogen (survey number 5294; table 25-10-0082-01).
- Electric power statistics (survey number 2151; tables 25-10-0015-01 and 25-10-0016-01).
- Coal and coke statistics (survey numbers 2147 and 2003; tables 25-10-0045-01 and 25-10-0046-01).
Revisions
Energy survey data and administrative sources are subject to revisions to reflect new or updated information. Historical revisions will also be processed periodically.
With this release, the following survey programs have processed revisions:
- Table 25-10-0081-01 Petroleum products data have been revised back to January 2019. Following consultation with some survey respondents, new and updated information was provided for various data series. In addition, some data series which were previously suppressed are now available. For additional information on the revisions, please consult the summary of changes.
- Table 25-10-0082-01 Renewable fuel plant statistics data have been revised back to November 2023 to reflect newly reported survey data.
Crude oil and natural gas liquids tables have been revised. In addition to publishing newly obtained data from survey respondents and administrative data sources, some previously suppressed data series are now available.
- Table 25-10-0036-01 Natural gas liquids and sulphur products from processing plants, revisions for 2019 and 2020.
- Table 25-10-0063-01 Supply and disposition of crude oil and equivalent, revisions back to January 2019.
Table 25-10-0079-01 Consolidated energy statistics data have been revised back to January 2020, as a result of the above-mentioned revisions.
Occasionally, data from Environment and Climate Change Canada are referenced by the Energy Statistics Program using Cooling Degree Days (CDDs) or Heating Degree Days (HDDs) as a measure of temperature. CDDs reflect the relationship between outdoor temperatures and the need to cool indoors to maintain room temperature. As temperatures outside rise, the number of CDDs increases. HDDs are the opposite and reflect the need to heat indoors to maintain room temperature. As temperatures outside fall, the number of HDDs increases.
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; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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