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Data quality, concepts and methodology: Concepts
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Establishments in the crude petroleum and natural gas industry explore for and produce crude petroleum, natural gas, propane, butanes, ethane, and sulphur, either directly from the fields or from processing plants. That is, the establishment boundary includes within it the facilities of the processing plants, the oil and gas fields, geological and geophysical exploration, and head office functions supporting such activities, and any other ancillary services as are required to maintain such exploration or producing programmes. Although a company may be engaged in all phases of the industry, it may not necessarily be engaged in all phases in anyone province. Refining and marketing activities of oil companies are not included in NAICS 211, but are coded to separate industries. It should also be carefully noted that the companies engaged in geological and geophysical consulting, or as contractors, are not included in the NAICS 211, Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas Industry.
In our statistical publications, expenditures of the industry are segregated between exploration, development, operating and royalties. The primary purpose of this publication is to make available operational type data, while the basic statistics on capital expenditures are published by the Investment and Capital Stock Division in Private and Public Investment in Canada (catalogue no. 61-205-X).
Producing activity is defined as activity in which capital and operating expenditures are made by the establishment for the purpose of producing crude petroleum and natural gas. This includes expenditures on gas processing and re-processing plants and production facilities.
Total activity includes the producing activity plus an extension of the data for other non-producing activities in which the establishment might be engaged. Generally speaking, these are the geological and geophysical activities plus capital additions produced by own labour force for own use and charged to Fixed Assets Accounts.
Periodically, Statistics Canada, undertakes a special survey of the exploration, and production activities of 25 major oil and gas companies operating in Canada. Detailed data are collected from these selected companies for each operating and capital function, breaking the expenditures down into salaries and wages, materials and supplies and payments to contractors. These breakdowns of expenditures are considered as representative of the industry, and the total expenditures collected from all respondents in the annual survey are broken down in the same proportion as indicated by the special survey.
