Comparing apples and oranges in terms of energy through the Consolidated Energy Statistics table

You may be familiar with the terms “barrels of crude oil” or “cubic metres of natural gas.” These units of measure help us quantify things—in this instance, crude oil and natural gas. And just as things that can be measured are countless, there are and have been innumerable yard or metre sticks to help us make those judgments over the years. 

But what if you wanted to compare two energy products that have different units of measure? This is where Statistics Canada’s Consolidated Energy Statistics table comes into play. The table converts the energy content (heating value) of different types of fuels to a common unit of measure, the terajoule, allowing comparisons across different energy types.

During the first half of 2024, Canada produced an average of 1.9 million terajoules of primary energy per month, with most destined for the export market. According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, Canada was the sixth largest primary energy producing country in the world in 2022. That year, Canada produced 22.8 million terajoules of energy. In 2023, that number increased to 23.1 million and is currently on pace to be even larger in 2024.

Defining primary and secondary energy fuel types

Primary energy fuel types are either extracted or captured directly from natural resources. Canada’s primary energy sector consists of six fuel types: crude oil, natural gas, primary electricity, coal, natural gas liquids and renewable fuels.

Secondary energy generated from combustible fuels, which includes refined petroleum products, coke and secondary electricity, are derived through the transformation of other fuels or energy, whether primary or secondary.

The Consolidated Energy Statistics table originated in January 2020. It allows users to explore various aspects of energy supply and demand—including production, exports and imports—to better understand Canada’s overall energy portrait. All energy types are presented in terajoules.

Canada’s energy production is driven by oil and gas

In the first six months of 2024, 11.6 million terajoules of primary energy were produced in Canada, and approximately 5.5 million terajoules more in exports than in imports were traded over that same period, putting Canada in an enviable position in terms of the value of its energy resources.

By comparison, secondary energy production stood at 2.5 million terajoules from January to June 2024, approximately one-quarter of the amount of production of primary energy.

The Consolidated Energy Statistics table allows you to drill down to compare primary energy fuel types.

For example, in the first six months of 2024, almost half of primary energy production in Canada was crude oil (49.4%) and over one-third was natural gas (34.2%).

The remaining four primary energy types—primary electricity (7.4%), natural gas liquids (4.4%), coal (4.2%) and renewable fuels (0.3%)—made up the balance.

Most of Canada’s crude oil and natural gas production destined for foreign markets

Energy is often analyzed in terms of trade, which is typically measured in dollar or volume values as denoted in the Canadian International Merchandise Trade Web Application. Using the Consolidated Energy Statistics table, we can add terajoules as another dimension to better understand the value of Canada’s energy resources.

In addition to being the most produced energy sources in Canada, crude oil and natural gas are the most exported and imported commodities of primary energy.

During the first six months of 2024, Canada exported 2.7 times more terajoules of crude oil (774,000 terajoules) on average per month than natural gas (284,000 terajoules).

Over the same period, Canada imported about two-fifths more terajoules of crude oil (138,000 terajoules) than natural gas (97,000 terajoules) per month. 

The value of Canada's trade of crude oil is expected to grow in the second half of 2024 with the opening of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in May 2024. Likewise, trade in natural gas exports has trended upward in three of the past four years, bolstered by record production levels and increased foreign demand.

Coal losing steam while renewable fuels production grows

The Consolidated Energy Statistics table also allows us to compare disparate energy sources. In the past, coal was a larger contributor to the energy sector. Meanwhile, renewable fuels, while still a small part of the energy sector, are growing. 

From January to June 2024, coal production dropped 26.8% (180,000 terajoules) year over year as Canada continued to shift from using coal to other fuel sources for industrial and electricity generation.

By comparison, renewable fuels production is less than one-tenth of the size of coal but grew by 30.9% year over year to 36,500 terajoules in the first half of 2024, up 47.1% compared with 2022.

Differing measures for refined petroleum products

Just as the Consolidated Energy Statistics table allows us to compare different energy types, we can also use the conversion to terajoules to add insights into our understanding of commodity groups. The refined petroleum products category includes numerous types of fuels measured in cubic metres. Using this metric, we see a 2.1% increase from January to June 2024, but looking at it through the lens of the terajoule we can see a less pronounced 0.4% gain. Both measures have merit on their own, but in the end, the Consolidated Energy Statistics table offers the user more data to help them make informed decisions.

To explore more data on Canadian energy, stay tuned to the Canadian Centre for Energy Information and the consolidated energy statistics Daily releases.