Canadian production of crude oil and equivalent products rose in November from a year ago, with Alberta leading the way.
Statistics Canada reported on Monday that Canada produced 22.8 million cubic metres (143.3 million barrels) of crude oil and equivalent products in November, up 6.6 per cent from the same month a year earlier. In the 10 months prior to November 2018, total crude and equivalent production averaged 21.8 million cubic metres per month.
The federal agency said Alberta produced 18.9 million cubic metres of crude oil and equivalent products in November, up 8.8 per cent from the same month in 2017. Alberta (83.1 per cent), Saskatchewan (10.4 per cent) and Newfoundland and Labrador (3.9 per cent) accounted for the vast majority of Canadian production of crude oil and equivalent products.
StatsCan said synthetic crude production, up 14.9 per cent to reach its second highest level on record, was the main contributor to the overall year-over-year growth. Increases in non-upgraded crude bitumen (+5.3 per cent), equivalent products (+10.7 per cent) and light and medium crude oil (+0.6 per cent) also contributed to this growth. In contrast, heavy crude oil decreased one per cent from November 2017.
“In a month when several Alberta producers implemented voluntary production cuts, in-situ production of crude bitumen (-9.7 per cent) fell to its lowest level since June 2017. Over the same period, mined production of crude bitumen (+27.3 per cent) reached a record high 8.6 million cubic metres,” it added.
Crude oil production (excluding equivalent products) totalled 20.9 million cubic metres in November, up 6.2 per cent from the same month a year earlier. And oil sands extraction (non-upgraded crude bitumen and synthetic crude oil) averaged a 9.6 per cent year-over-year rise since January 2018, outpacing growth in oil extraction (heavy, light and medium crude oil), which averaged 5.2 per cent over the same period, explained Statistics Canada.
“Exports of crude oil and equivalent products totalled 18.2 million cubic metres in November, up 21.1 per cent from the same month a year earlier. November marked the second highest level of exports, after the 18.4 million cubic metres exported in May 2018,” said the federal agency.
“Exports via pipelines to the United States rose 15.5 per cent to 15.4 million cubic metres, the 11th consecutive monthly year-over-year increase. Exports to the United States via pipelines has averaged 15.2 million cubic metres so far in 2018, compared with 14.4 million cubic metres in the first 11 months of 2017. Exports to the United States by other means (including rail, marine, and truck) were up 44.9 per cent from the same month in 2017, to 2.3 million cubic metres.
“Exports to other countries continued on an upward trend, totalling 6.9 million cubic metres so far in 2018, compared with 1.8 million cubic metres in all of 2017.”
– Mario Toneguzzi for Calgary’s Business
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