Market Snapshot: Crude Oil – One of Canada’s top exports is also one of the most globally traded commodities

Release date: 2019-06-12

Crude oil is one of Canada’s top five highest valued exports.^Footnote 1,^Footnote 2 Between 2013 and 2018, the value of crude oil exports ranged from 11% to 20% of Canada’s total exported goods. Despite western Canada experiencing lower oil prices in 2018, the value of exported crude oil was $86.7 billion, or 16% of Canada’s $538.1 billion in exported goods.^Footnote 3

Figure 1: Comparing the dollar value of Canadian and global crude oil exports

Canada exported an average of $73.1 billion worth of crude oil between 2013 and 2017, ranking 3^rd or 4^th place in those years on the list of largest crude exporters in the world.^Footnote 4

During the same period, Canada’s share of global crude oil export volumes increased. In 2013, 5% of the world’s crude oil export volumes were Canadian; this grew to over 6% in 2017. During these years, Canada exported an average of 3 million barrels per day (MMb/d).

Although most of Canada’s crude oil exports go to the United States (U.S.), the U.S.’s crude oil exports to global markets steadily increased from $11.3 billion in 2013 to $29.3 billion in 2017. Over the same period, the U.S. moved from the 31st position on the list of crude oil exports by value to the 13th position. In 2017, the U.S. exported 0.9 MMb/d of crude oil according the US Energy Information Administration.

The U.S. is expected to be ranked even higher on the global list of crude exporters in 2018 when full data is available. In 2018, the U.S.’s 2018 crude export volumes nearly doubled, averaging 2 MMb/d.

Date modified:

2023-11-28