Canada produced 22.5 million cubic metres (141.4 million barrels) of crude oil and equivalent products in July, up 8.1 per cent compared with the same month in 2017, says Statistics Canada.
“The rise in production of crude oil and equivalent products in July was primarily attributable to a 15.2 per cent increase in non-upgraded crude bitumen to a record high of 9.3 million cubic metres. This surpassed the previous high of 9.1 million cubic metres in May 2018. Non-upgraded crude bitumen production consisted of in-situ crude bitumen (+5.8 per cent), plus mined crude bitumen (+6.9 per cent), minus crude bitumen sent for further processing (-5.7 per cent),” said the federal agency on Thursday.
“Light and medium crude oil (+10.5 per cent), equivalent products (+14.2 per cent) and heavy crude oils (+0.2 per cent) also contributed to the overall increase in monthly production.”
StatsCan said crude oil production (excluding equivalent products) totalled 20.7 million cubic metres in July, up 7.6 per cent from the same month a year earlier. Oil sands extraction, which consists of non-upgraded crude bitumen and synthetic crude oil, increased 7.9 per cent from July 2017 to 14.3 million cubic metres. Over the same period, extraction of light, medium and heavy crude oils rose 7.1 per cent to 6.3 million cubic metres, it added.
“Alberta produced 18.2 million cubic metres of crude oil and equivalent products in July, up 8.4 per cent from the same month a year earlier.
“Alberta (81.1 per cent), Saskatchewan (10.6 per cent) and Newfoundland and Labrador (5.7 per cent) accounted for the vast majority of Canadian production,” said Statistics Canada.
“Exports of crude oil and equivalent products were up 8.5 per cent to 17.5 million cubic metres in July. Exports to the United States by pipelines rose 4.3 per cent, to 15.2 million cubic metres. Meanwhile, exports by other means (including rail, truck and marine) continued to increase, with a monthly average volume of 2.3 million cubic metres from January to July, compared with 1.7 million cubic metres over the same period in 2017.
“Meanwhile, imports of crude oil to refineries fell 8.2 per cent to 3.0 million cubic metres.”
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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