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 2007 were 1 427.7 billion cubic metres (bcm)–1 418.5 bcm in conventional areas and 9.2 bcm in frontier areas. The total in-place, raw, undiscovered potential of natural gas in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin is estimated to be 10 435 bcm.
• Crude oil reserves¹ in 2007 were estimated at 28.3 bcm–0.8 bcm from conventional areas (including 0.314 bcm from frontier areas) and 27.5 bcm from oil sands. The ultimate recoverable potential from the Alberta oil sands is more than 50.0 bcm.
• Primary energy production by commodity in 2007 was 36.1 percent gas, 38.7 percent petroleum, 8.4 percent coal, 7.4 percent hydro, 5.8 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 17 645 petajoules (PJ). Alberta accounted for 64 percent of total production; British Columbia, 13 percent; Saskatchewan, 9 percent; Quebec, 4 percent; and Ontario, 3 percent.
• Primary energy consumption by commodity in 2007 was 39.4 percent petroleum, 25.5 percent gas, 11.3 percent coal, 10.1 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 11 965 PJ. Ontario accounted for 35 percent of that amount; Alberta, 23 percent; Quebec, 17 percent; British Columbia, 11 percent; Saskatchewan, 5 percent; Manitoba, 2 percent; and the Atlantic provinces, 7 percent.
• Secondary energy consumption accounted for approximately 68.6 percent of primary
  energy demand in 2006. Industry accounted for 38.9 percent of secondary energy consumption; transportation, 29.6 percent; residential, 16.0 percent; commercial and institutional, 13.0 percent; and agriculture, 2.5 percent.
• Marketable production of natural gas in Canada in 2007 was 167.1 bcm.
• Production of crude oil in Canada in 2007 was 251.2 thousand cubic metres (tcm) per day of light crude oil and 188.8 tcm per day of heavy crude oil, for a total of 440.0 tcm per day (161 million cubic metres [mcm]).
• Electricity generation in 2007 by source was as follows: 58.9 percent hydro; 17.6 percent coal; 14.3 percent nuclear; 8.7 percent oil, gas and other sources; and 0.5 percent solar, wind and tidal. Total electricity generation was 615 net terawatt hours. Quebec accounted for 30 percent of that amount (95 percent from hydro), and Ontario accounted for 26 percent (50 percent from nuclear sources).

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¹Data 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 Statistical Handbook October 2008; Alberta's Energy Reserves 2007.

² Based on nuclear electricity conversion factor of 11.564 megajoules per kilowatt hour.

³Ibid.

National Economic Importance

• Energy (all sources) contributed 7.0 percent to the GDP in 2007. Of the total energy GDP of $86.6 billion (2002 constant dollars), crude oil and natural gas industries accounted for $42.1 billion (49 percent); electric power, $26.0 billion (30 percent); and pipelines, $4.9 billion (4 percent).
• Approximately 73 percent ($80.4 billion) of petroleum and natural gas production in 2007 was in Alberta.
• The energy sector, excluding service stations and wholesale trade in petroleum products, provided direct employment for 272 072 people in 2007–1.9 percent of total employment in Canada. Service stations and wholesale trade in petroleum products provided direct employment for 101 505 people (0.7 percent).
• In 2007, energy accounted for 20.5 percent of total merchandise exports. The energy trade balance ranked first as a contributor to Canada's positive overall trade balance.
• In 2007, new capital investments in energy-related industries represented 21.4 percent of total Canadian investment and 5.6 percent of GDP.
• Despite a 55.4 percent increase in GDP between 1990 and 2006, end-use energy consumption grew by only 21 percent. As shown in Figure 2, energy efficiency played a major role in limiting this growth.

Figure 2 - Secondary energy use, with and without energy efficiency improvements, 1990-2006

As Figure 3 shows, end-use energy consumption grew by 1461.2 PJ between 1990 and 2006. This increase takes into account such factors as:

• growth in economic activity
• warmer weather (in 2006, both winter and summer were warmer than in 1990; the net effect was energy savings)
• changes in the structure of the economy favouring lessenergy-intensive industries
• increased service level for auxiliary equipment in commercial/institutional buildings and appliances in homes
• increased amount of floor space cooled
• significant gains in energy efficiency

Figure 3 - Impact of activity, structure, weather, service level and energy efficiency on the change in total energy use, 1990–2006 (petajoules)

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¹ “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 15.8 percent between 1990 and 2006. This “change” corresponds to a reduction of 1049 PJ in energy consumption. The gain in energy efficiency translated into savings of $20.7 billion in 2006 and an estimated 60.1 megatonnes of avoided greenhouse gas emissions.

International Importance

• The United States (U.S.) is Canada's major trade market for energy products, accounting for 99 percent ($91.1 billion) of all Canadian energy exports. In 2007, Canada imported $36.9 billion of energy products, mainly from the U.S. (27 percent), Norway (13 percent) and the United Kingdom (12 percent).
• Canada exported 109.9 bcm of natural gas, or 66 percent of its marketable production–all to the United States. The value of these exports was $28.3 billion. In volume terms, Canada accounted for more than 82 percent of U.S. gas imports and had a 15 percent share of the U.S. market.
• Exports of crude oil were 290 tcm per day in 2007 for a total annual value of $41.9 billion. More than 99 percent of these exports were to the United States. Canadian crude oil held a 12 percent share of the U.S. market in 2007 and accounted for 18 percent of U.S. crude imports. Exports of refined petroleum products in 2007 totalled 24.8 mcm, or $15.8 billion, and 95 percent, or $15.0 billion, went to the United States.

Commodities	World Production Ranking2 2007		Exports 2007		Destination
Total energy	-		$92.2 B	(100%)	U.S.	$91.1 B	(99%)
Petroleum1	Seventh	(4.1%)	$60.8 B	(66%)	U.S.	$59.6 B	(98%)
Natural gas	Third	(6.2%)	$28.3 B	(31%)	U.S.	$28.3 B	(100%)
Electricity	Seventh	(3.0%)	$3.1 B	(3%)	U.S.	$3.1 B	(100%)

U.S. - United States

¹Trade data include crude oil; liquefied petroleum gases (LPGs) and petroleum products. The production ranking includes crude oil and LPGs.

²The world production ranking is based on British Petroleum statistics, Statistical Review of World Energy.