Oil Reserves

Canada's oil reserves are sufficient to meet demand for the next 200 years at current rates of production. Oil reserves are defined as the amount of oil that can be recovered from known reservoirs under current technology and present economic conditions. Oil reserves are specifically proven by drilling, testing or production. Undiscovered oil which is thought to exist, based on geological information, but has yet to have been found is excluded from the reserves definition. Canada's oil reserves consist of oil contained in the oil sands deposits of Alberta (established reserves) and conventional oil reserves. Most of Canada's oil reserves are found in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, which underlay Alberta, Saskatchewan and part of the Northwest Territories.

East coast offshore conventional crude oil reserves are now estimated to be larger than Alberta's conventional crude oil reserves (1,704 million barrels).