Canada produced 21.1 million cubic metres (132.9 million barrels) of crude oil and equivalent products in June, up 10.5 per cent from the same month a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada.
The federal agency reported on Tuesday that the year-over-year increase in total production of crude oil and equivalent products in June was driven by non-upgraded production of crude bitumen (+15.9 per cent).
“Non-upgraded crude bitumen production consisted of in-situ crude bitumen (+6.0 per cent), plus mined crude bitumen (+19.5 per cent), minus crude bitumen sent for further processing (+6.7 per cent). Since the start of the data series in 2016, crude bitumen production from mining operations has been more volatile than bitumen produced in-situ,” it said.
“Synthetic crude oil (+8.8 per cent), light and medium crude oil (+7.6 per cent) and equivalent products (+14.7 per cent) also contributed to the overall increase in monthly production. Meanwhile, production of heavy crude oil was down 2.8 per cent in June, marking the 10th consecutive month of year-over-year decreases.”
StatsCan said crude oil production (excluding equivalent products) totalled 19.5 million cubic metres in June, up 10.2 per cent from the same month a year earlier.
“Oil sands extraction, which consists of non-upgraded crude bitumen and synthetic crude oil, increased 13.1 per cent from the previous June to 13.5 million cubic metres. Over the same period, extraction of light, medium and heavy crude oils rose 4.1 per cent to 6.0 million cubic metres. Oil sands extraction averaged a 9.4 per cent year-over-year increase in the previous 12 months, while oil extraction averaged a 4.6 per cent increase,” it said.
The federal agency said Alberta produced 17.2 million cubic metres of crude oil and equivalent products in June, up 12.5 per cent from the same month a year earlier. Alberta (81.2 per cent), Saskatchewan (11.0 per cent) and Newfoundland and Labrador (5.5 per cent) accounted for the vast majority of Canadian production of crude oil and equivalent products, explained Statistics Canada.
It also reported:
- exports of crude oil and equivalent products were up 10.6 per cent to 17.4 million cubic metres in June;
- exports to the United States by pipelines rose 10.1 per cent, while exports to the United States by other means (including rail, truck and marine) and exports to other countries also increased;
- imports of crude oil to refineries (-26.0 per cent to 2.5 million cubic metres) continued on a downward trend;
- closing inventories of crude oil and equivalent products totalled 19.2 million cubic metres in June, up 14.3 per cent from the same month a year earlier;
- for the quarter ending June 30, 2018, production of crude oil and equivalents totalled 63.2 million cubic metres, up 12.1 per cent compared with the same quarter of 2017;
- exports of crude oil and equivalents rose 10.0 per cent to 53.7 million cubic metres, and surpassing the record of 51.2 million cubic metres set in the previous quarter;
- the vast majority of crude oil was exported via pipeline to the United States; exports by this mode in the second quarter reached 46.5 million cubic metres, 7.8 per cent higher than the same quarter in the previous year;
- imports by refineries totalled 7.7 million cubic metres, down 20.6 per cent compared with the second quarter of 2017.
Mario Toneguzzi is a veteran Calgary-based journalist who worked for 35 years for the Calgary Herald, including 12 years as a senior business writer.
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