Important Facts on Canada's Natural Resources

Energy

• National Economic Importance
• International Importance

• Canada has a vast and diversified portfolio of energy resources. Taking advantage of this endowment, Canada produces large quantities of energy for both domestic consumption and export. It is also an energy-intensive country, given its northern climate, vast territory, industrial base and high standard of living.
• In 2009, Canada’s production of “primary” energy – i.e. energy found in nature before conversion or transformation – totalled 16 543 petajoules (PJ). Fossil fuels accounted for the greatest share of this production, with crude oil representing 36.8 percent; natural gas, 37.7 percent; and coal, 8.2 percent. Renewable energy sources were also important, with hydroelectricity representing 7.9 percent; wood, 3.4 percent; and emerging forms (e.g. wind, tidal and solar), 0.1 percent. Nuclear energy (generated from the primary source of uranium) accounted for 5.9 percent.¹
• Crude oil reserves at the beginning of 2009 were estimated at 27.8 billion cubic metres (bcm) – providing Canada with a resource base second only to Saudi Arabia. Oil sands represented the majority of these reserves with 27.0 bcm, while conventional sources amounted to 0.8 bcm. The ultimate recoverable potential from the Alberta oil sands is estimated to be more than 50.0 bcm.
• Production of crude oil in Canada totalled 158 million m³, or 433.1 thousand m³ per day, in 2009. Conventional sources provided 51.0 percent of total production, while oil sands production, which has been growing in recent years, accounted for the remainder.
• About two thirds of crude oil production is exported, while the balance is processed by Canadian refineries into refined petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel and heating oil. Canadian refineries – especially those far from major domestic production areas – also process imported crude oil purchased on the international market.
• Natural gas reserves at the beginning of 2009 totalled 1 754 bcm. Of this amount, about 95 percent is from conventional sources, and the remainder is from unconventional sources (such as coal bed methane and shale gas). The total potential from conventional resources is estimated to be 10.1 trillion cubic metres (tcm), while recent estimates suggest that the potential from unconventional resources is in the range of 10.7 to 26.8 tcm.
• Marketable production of natural gas in Canada amounted to 147.5 bcm in 2009. Close to two thirds of this production was exported to the United States (U.S.), and the balance was sold to Canadian consumers.
• Electricity generation in Canada amounted to 585 terawatt hours in 2009. Canada’s abundant water resources provided a significant contribution in this regard, as hydroelectricity represented 60.4 percent of total generation. Other sources of electricity supply included coal (16.9 percent); nuclear (14.6 percent); petroleum products, natural gas and waste (7.5 percent); and emerging renewable sources (0.6 percent), i.e. solar, wind and tidal.
• Quebec accounted for 33 percent of that amount (97 percent from hydro), and Ontario accounted for 25 percent (56 percent from nuclear sources).
• On a regional basis, Alberta accounted for 64 percent of Canada’s energy production. Other leading energy provinces were British Columbia (13 percent), Saskatchewan (7 percent), Quebec (5 percent) and Ontario (3 percent). Alberta is the leading producer of fossil fuels, Quebec is the largest producer of hydroelectricity, and Ontario is the largest producer of nuclear energy.
• Canadians use energy for several purposes: to heat and cool their homes and offices, to power appliances and equipment, to transport people and goods and for industrial processes.
• Secondary energy consumption in Canada is the energy used by final consumers in various sectors of the economy (and therefore excludes exports, energy consumed by energy producers, and non-energy uses) and in 2008 accounted for about 70 percent of total energy use, or 8720 PJ. Mining and manufacturing industries consumed 37.1 percent of secondary energy consumption; transportation, 29.7 percent; residential, 16.8 percent; commercial and institutional, 13.8 percent; and agriculture, 2.5 percent.

¹ Based on nuclear electricity conversion factor of 11.564 megajoules per kilowatt hour (MJ/kWh).

National Economic Importance

• In 2009, the GDP of Canada’s energy sector – i.e. industries involved in the production, transformation and transportation of energy – reached $80.2 billion (in 2002 constant dollars), accounting for 6.7 percent of Canadian GDP. The oil and gas extraction industry accounted for about half of this amount, while the electric power industry accounted for about one third.
• The production, transformation and transportation of energy are activities that are “capital intensive” – which means they have extensive needs for various equipment and structures. This generates economic activity throughout the Canadian economy, in particular in such industries as equipment manufacturing, construction and engineering services. In 2009, new capital investments in energy-related industries represented 20.1 percent of Canadian investments.
• The energy sector, excluding service stations and wholesale trade in petroleum products, provided direct employment for 257 462 people in 2009, or 1.8 percent of employment in Canada. In addition, service stations and wholesale trade in petroleum products provided direct employment for 96 199 people (0.7 percent).
• In 2009, energy accounted for 21.6 percent of merchandise exports. The energy trade balance ranked first as a contributor to Canada’s positive overall trade balance.
• Despite a 61.6 percent increase in GDP between 1990 and 2008, end-use energy consumption grew by only 25.7 percent. As shown in Figure 6, energy efficiency played a major role in limiting this growth.

As Figure 7 shows, end-use energy consumption grew by 1784.0 PJ between 1990 and 2008. This increase takes into account such factors as

• growth in economic activity, including the energy-intensive upstream oil and gas industry
• weather effect (in 2008, the winter temperatures were slightly lower than in 1990, but the summer was similar to that in 1990; the net effect was more energy use)
• changes in the structure of the economy, favouring less energy-intensive industries
• increased service levels for auxiliary equipment in commercial/institutional buildings and appliances in homes
• increased amount of floor space cooled
• significant gains in energy efficiency

* “Other” refers to street lighting, non-commercial airline aviation, off-road transportation and agriculture, which are included in “Total change in energy use” but are excluded from the factorization analysis.

• Overall, energy efficiency improved by 18.2 percent between 1990 and 2008. This “change” corresponds to a reduction of 1205.9 PJ in energy consumption. The gain in energy efficiency translated into savings of $26.9 billion in 2008 and an estimated 67.3 megatonnes of avoided greenhouse gas emissions.

International Importance

• Canada is an open economy, and taking advantage of its sizeable energy resources, it has become an important and reliable energy provider to the world. In 2009, Canada exported $77.9 billion of energy products, of which 97 percent was to the United States.
• Exports of crude oil amounted to 109.2 million m³ in 2009, representing a value of $42.9 billion. Canadian crude oil accounted for 21 percent of U.S. crude imports and held a 15 percent share of the overall U.S. market. Exports of refined petroleum products in 2009 totalled 24.4 million m³, or $14.2 billion.

U.S. - United States

* British Petroleum’s BP Statistical Survey of World Energy.

** Trade data include crude oil, refined petroleum products and liquefied petroleum gases (LPGs). The production ranking includes crude oil and LPGs.

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