Production of crude oil and equivalent products in Canada rose 4.1 per cent in November from a year ago, according to a report released on Friday by Statistics Canada.
The total national output was 21.5 million cubic metres or 135.3 million barrels.
“Alberta produced 17.4 million cubic metres of crude oil and equivalent products in November, up 4.5 per cent from the previous year, and accounted for 81.0 per cent of total Canadian production. Saskatchewan (11.4 per cent) and Newfoundland and Labrador (5.1 per cent) were also key producing provinces,” said the federal agency.
Statistics Canada said increases in non-upgraded production of crude bitumen (10.8 per cent), light and medium (7.1 per cent) and heavy (0.9 per cent) crude oil were partially offset by a decrease in synthetic crude (11 per cent).
“Due to scheduled maintenance at an Alberta upgrader, November marked the third consecutive month with year-over-year decreases in synthetic crude oil production,” it said.
In November, crude oil production (excluding equivalent products) totalled 19.8 million cubic metres in Canada. Non-conventional crude oil production, which consists of non-upgraded crude bitumen and synthetic crude oil, increased 1.4 per cent from the same month a year earlier to 13.7 million cubic metres.
Conventional production of light, medium and heavy crude oils rose five per cent to 6.1 million cubic metres in November, following a 3.2 per cent year-over-year increase in October, added StatsCan.
“Exports of crude oil and equivalent products were down 7.9 per cent from November 2016 to 15.0 million cubic metres. The decrease was attributable to a pipeline leak in the United States.
“The vast majority of exports (88.8 per cent) were transported via pipelines to the United States, while exports by other means (including rail, truck, and marine) to the United States accounted for 10.5 per cent. The remaining 0.7 per cent of exports went to countries other than the United States,” said the federal agency.
“Imports to Canadian refineries were down 6.8 per cent to 2.6 million cubic metres.”
The full report can be found at https://goo.gl/Xr6znk
Respected business writer Mario Toneguzzi is a veteran Calgary-based journalist who worked for 35 years for the Calgary Herald in various capacities, including 12 years as a senior business writer.
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