Statistics Canada reported on Thursday that production of crude oil and equivalent products (+5.7 per cent), natural gas (+1.9 per cent) and coal (+0.4 per cent) increased during June compared with a year ago.
However, electricity (-1.9 per cent) declined compared with the same month in 2018. Over the same period, exports of crude oil and equivalent products increased (+7.3 per cent), while exports of natural gas (-10.5 per cent) and electricity (-10.7 per cent) decreased.
“Production of crude oil and equivalent products rose 5.7 per cent year over year to 22.3 million cubic metres (140.2 million barrels) in June, primarily driven by oil sands activity,” said the federal agency.
“Production of synthetic crude oil increased 8.9 per cent to 5.5 million cubic metres in June, while non-upgraded production of crude bitumen increased 3.4 per cent to 8.7 million cubic metres. Production of light and medium crude oil (+6.6 per cent), equivalent products (+10.9 per cent), and heavy crude oil (+1.2 per cent) also contributed to the overall rise in June.”
StatsCan said Alberta produced 18.0 million cubic metres of crude oil and equivalent products in June, up 5.1 per cent from the same month a year earlier.
“Meanwhile, following maintenance in May and the continued easing of production limits, the average daily production of crude oil and equivalents in Alberta increased 4.1 per cent month-over-month to 601,100 cubic metres per day in June. This was the second highest level of average daily production in 2019 following April,” it said.
“In June, the key contributing provinces to total production of crude oil and equivalent products were Alberta (80.9 per cent), Saskatchewan (10.4 per cent) and Newfoundland and Labrador (6.2 per cent).”
Statistics Canada said pipelines delivered 7.8 million cubic metres of crude oil to Canadian refineries and upgraders in June, up 5.9 per cent from the same month a year earlier, with 65.9 per cent of the total volume delivered to refineries and upgraders in the Western provinces.
“Total exports of crude oil and equivalent products increased 7.3 per cent to 18.6 million cubic metres in June. Exports to the United States via pipelines rose 3.7 per cent year over year to 15.9 million cubic metres. Overall, pipelines were the main mode of transport, accounting for 85.4 per cent of total exports. Exports to the United States by other means (rail, truck and marine) increased 37.5 per cent to 2.3 million cubic metres, while exports to other countries were also up,” added the federal agency.
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