Important Facts on Canada's Natural Resources

Energy

• National Economic Importance
• International Importance

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• Remaining established reserves of natural gas at the beginning of 2008 were 1437.0 billion cubic metres (bcm) – 1428.1 bcm in conventional areas and 8.9 bcm in frontier areas. The total in-place, raw, undiscovered potential of natural gas in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin is estimated to be 10 737 bcm.
• Crude oil reserves in 2008 were estimated at 27.9 bcm – 0.8 bcm from conventional areas (including 0.323 bcm from frontier areas) and 27.1 bcm from oil sands.¹ The ultimate recoverable potential from the Alberta oil sands is more than 50.0 bcm.
• Primary energy production by commodity in 2008 was 34.7 percent gas; 39.5 percent petroleum; 8.5 percent coal; 7.8 percent hydro; 5.9 percent nuclear;² 3.5 percent waste wood, spent pulping liquor and firewood; and 0.1 percent solar, wind and tidal – for a total of 17 322 petajoules (PJ). Alberta accounted for 63 percent of total production; British Columbia, 13 percent; Saskatchewan, 9 percent; Quebec, 4 percent; and Ontario, 3 percent.
• Primary energy consumption by commodity in 2008 was 39.2 percent petroleum; 24.3 percent gas, 12.3 percent coal, 10.5 percent hydro, 8.5 percent nuclear,³ 5.1 percent waste wood, spent pulping liquor and firewood; and 0.1 percent solar, wind and tidal.
• Total primary energy consumption was 11 964 PJ. Ontario accounted for 35 percent of that amount; Alberta, 23 percent; Quebec, 17 percent; British Columbia, 10 percent; Saskatchewan, 5 percent; Manitoba, 3 percent; and the Atlantic provinces, 7 percent.
• Secondary energy consumption accounted for approximately 69.4 percent of primary energy demand in 2007. Industry accounted for 39.1 percent of secondary energy consumption; transportation, 29.3 percent; residential, 16.3 percent; commercial and institutional, 12.9 percent; and agriculture, 2.4 percent.
• Marketable production of natural gas in Canada in 2008 was 157.4 bcm.
• Production of crude oil in Canada in 2008 was 245.4 thousand cubic metres (tcm) per day of light crude oil and 189.9 tcm per day of heavy crude oil, for a total of 435.3 tcm per day (159 million cubic metres [mcm] for the year).
• Electricity generation in 2008 by source was as follows: 60.4 percent hydro; 16.9 percent coal; 14.6 percent nuclear; 7.5 percent oil, gas and other sources; and 0.6 percent solar, wind and tidal. Total electricity generation was 619 net terawatt-hours. Quebec accounted for 31 percent of that amount (97 percent from hydro), and Ontario accounted for 26 percent (53 percent from nuclear sources).

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¹ Data about oil sands reserves are from the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB); reserves include proven plus probable reserves and are calculated as initial established reserves less cumulative production. Probable reserves are contiguous recoverable reserves whose existence has been determined with reasonable certainty, based on geological or geophysical information. Data about conventional and frontier reserves are from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) and are calculated as proven reserves plus probable remaining established reserves. 

Sources:  CAPP’s Statistical Handbook for Canada’s Upstream Petroleum Industry, November 2009; Alberta's Energy Reserves 2008 and Supply/Demand Outlook 2009-2018 (ERCB).

² Based on nuclear electricity conversion factor of 11 564 megajoules per kilowatt hour.

³ Ibid.

National Economic Importance

• Energy (all sources) contributed 6.8 percent to the GDP in 2008. Of the energy GDP of $84.2 billion (2002 constant dollars), crude oil and natural gas industries accounted for $40.4 billion (48 percent); electric power, $25.8 billion (31 percent); and pipelines, $4.8 billion (6 percent).
• Approximately 73 percent ($108.0 billion) of petroleum and natural gas production in 2008 was in Alberta.
• The energy sector, excluding service stations and wholesale trade in petroleum products, provided direct employment for 276 392 people in 2008 – 1.9 percent of total employment in Canada. Service stations and wholesale trade in petroleum products provided direct employment for 96 621 people (0.7 percent).
• In 2008, energy accounted for 26.6 percent of total merchandise exports. The energy trade balance ranked first as a contributor to Canada’s positive overall trade balance.
• In 2008, new capital investments in energy-related industries represented 23.3 percent of total Canadian investment and 6.5 percent of GDP.
• Despite a 58.2 percent increase in GDP between 1990 and 2007, end-use energy consumption grew by only 28 percent. As shown in Figure 2, energy efficiency played a major role in limiting this growth.

As Figure 3 shows, end-use energy consumption grew by 1934.2 PJ between 1990 and 2007. This increase takes into account such factors as:

• growth in economic activity
• warmer weather (in 2007, the winter temperatures were similar to those of 1990, but the summer was warmer than 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 16.4 percent between 1990 and 2007. This “change” corresponds to a reduction of 1090 PJ in energy consumption. The gain in energy efficiency translated into savings of $166 billion in 2007 and an estimated 63.1 megatonnes of avoided greenhouse gas emissions.

International Importance

• The United States (U.S.) is Canada’s major trade market for energy products, accounting for 97 percent ($124.9 billion) of all Canadian energy exports. In 2008, Canada imported $52.9 billion of energy products, mainly from the U.S. (32 percent), Algeria (15 percent), Norway (11 percent) and the United Kingdom (11 percent).
• Canada exported 102.8 bcm of natural gas, or 65 percent of its marketable production – all to the U.S. The value of these exports was $32.6 billion. In volume terms, Canada accounted for more than 90 percent of U.S. gas imports and had a 15 percent share of the U.S. market.
• Exports of crude oil were 295 tcm per day in 2008 for an annual value of $67.5 billion. More than 99 percent of these exports were to the United States. Canadian crude oil held a 13 percent share of the U.S. market in 2008 and accounted for 19 percent of U.S. crude imports. Exports of refined petroleum products in 2008 totalled 25.6 mcm, or $20.9 billion, and 84 percent, or $17.4 billion, went to the U.S.

Commodities	World Production Ranking** 2008		Exports 2008 ($ billons)		Destination
Total energy	-		$128.4 B	(100%)	U.S.	$124.9 B	(97%)
Petroleum*	Sixth	(4.0%)	$92.0 B	(72%)	U.S.	$88.5 B	(96%)
Natural gas	Third	(5.7%)	$32.6 B	(25%)	U.S.	$32.6 B	(100%)
Electricity	Seventh	(3.0%)	$3.8 B	(3%)	U.S.	$3.8 B	(100%)

U.S. - United States

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

** The world production ranking is based on statistics from British Petroleum’s Statistical Review of World Energy.

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