Market Snapshot: Imports of crude oil increase in 2019
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Release date: 2020-04-01
Canada imports around one barrel of crude oil for every seven barrels it produces. Imports of crude oil increased 3% in 2019, from 634 thousand barrels a day (Mb/d) in 2018 to 655 Mb/d. The United States (U.S.) continues to be the largest source of Canada’s imported crude oil. In 2019, over 70% of Canada’s oil imports came from the U.S., compared to 64% in 2018. A higher volume of imports also came from the Russian Federation. Imports from Norway, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, and Nigeria decreased from 2018.
Figure 1. Countries Canada imports crude oil from
Source and Description
Source: Statistics Canada’s Canadian International Merchandise Trade Database (CIMT)
Description: This stacked bar chart shows imports of crude oil to Canada by country of origin from 2010 to 2018. Imports increased between 2018 and 2019 from 634 Mb/d to 655 Mb/d. The shares of imports to Canada in 2019 were 74% from the United States, 16% from Saudi Arabia, 3% from the Russian Federation, 2% from Norway, 1% from Nigeria, 1% from Azerbaijan, 1% from Côte d'Ivoire, and 2% from others.
The provinces that import the most crude oil are New Brunswick, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Ontario. The majority of crude oil imported by the refineries in New Brunswick and Newfoundland comes by marine tankers. Although Quebec’s refineries import some crude oil by marine tankers, most crude oil imports travel by pipeline from the U.S. Both New Brunswick and Quebec’s refineries can import crude by rail from the U.S.; however, this is not typically done. Crude oil imports to Ontario’s refineries are only by pipeline.
Figure 2. Origin of crude oil imported to eastern provinces
Source and Description
Source: Statistics Canada’s Canadian International Merchandise Trade Database (CIMT)
Description: This stacked bar graph shows imports into New Brunswick, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Ontario from 2017 to 2019, separated into U.S. and non-U.S. imports. Imports into New Brunswick decreased in 2019 to 240 Mb/d, and 95 Mb/d came from the U.S. Imports into Quebec increased to 200 Mb/d, and 200 Mb/d of imports came from the U.S. Imports into Newfoundland and Labrador decreased to 108 Mb/d, and 84 Mb/d of imports came from the U.S. Imports into Ontario decreased to 21 Mb/d, and all came from the U.S.
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