It was an eventful 2024 for the Canadian crude oil sector, a year marked by the opening of a new major pipeline, improved production efficiencies and continued growth in demand. For the fourth consecutive year, production of crude oil and equivalent products reached a record high, up 4.3% from 2023 to 298.8 million cubic metres in 2024.
Oil sands drive production increase
In 2024, the overall gain was driven by the oil sands sector, as maintenance activities spurred efficiency improvements at some upgraders and bitumen production sites. Following maintenance in early fall, oil sands production reached a new monthly record of 17.8 million cubic metres in December. Synthetic crude production rose 4.3% to 74.0 million cubic metres in 2024, while production of non-upgraded crude bitumen increased at the same rate (+4.3%) to 121.5 million cubic metres.
The increase in crude bitumen production in 2024 came primarily from in-situ extraction (+4.3% to 107.5 million cubic metres) as some of the large producers expanded and optimized their operations. Mined bitumen extraction (+4.4%) reported a similar increase, reaching 99.8 million cubic metres and more than doubling the increases seen in both 2022 (+1.6%) and 2023 (+1.9%).
Production of equivalent products (condensate and pentanes plus), which are used to dilute crude bitumen being transported by pipeline from the oil sands, rose 10.1% to a new series high of 30.7 million cubic metres in 2024, the largest year-over-year gain in production since 2018.
Chart 1: Production and exports of crude oil and equivalent products
Description - Chart 1: Production and exports of crude oil and equivalent products
The title of this chart is “Crude oil and equivalent products.”
This is a vertical bar chart.
The vertical axis represents the volume of crude oil in millions of cubic metres, from 0 to 300, in increments of 50.
The horizontal axis represents the years from 2016 to 2024, in chronological order from left to right.
There are two bars for each year, the first bar representing production, and the second bar representing exports.
For 2016, the first bar is at 225 089 339, and the second bar is at 180 611 837.
For 2017, the first bar is at 244 670 171, and the second bar is at 192 542 202.
For 2018, the first bar is at 266 733 154, and the second bar is at 211 873 020.
For 2019, the first bar is at 272 186 309, and the second bar is at 219 386 440.
For 2020, the first bar is at 260 034 209, and the second bar is at 211 777 338.
For 2021, the first bar is at 275 365 980, and the second bar is at 217 897 473.
For 2022, the first bar is at 282 401 762, and the second bar is at 223 026 230.
For 2023, the first bar is at 286 380 680, and the second bar is at 228 935 963.
For 2024, the first bar is at 298 824 339, and the second bar is at 240 395 328.
Sources(s): Table 25-10-0063-01.
Conventional crude oil reverses decline in 2024
Conventional crude oil extraction rose 2.1% to 72.7 million cubic metres in 2024, reversing a modest decline in 2023 (-0.4%). This growth was driven primarily by production of light and medium crude oil (+1.8%) in 2024. Production of heavy crude oil (+2.7%), the preferred input for many US refineries, was also up, reaching a new annual series high of 26.3 million cubic metres.
New pipeline, new all-time high for exports
The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion began operation in May 2024, providing Alberta crude oil with increased access to Pacific Ocean terminals and markets abroad. Crude oil producers were optimistic about the new infrastructure: from May to December, total crude oil movements from Alberta to British Columbia more than tripled (+367.4%) from the same eight-month period in 2023, reaching an average of 1.9 million cubic metres per month in 2024.
Exports of crude oil to countries other than the United States rose 59.8% to an annual record of 10.6 million cubic metres in 2024, with more crude oil shipped to Asia following the completion of the new pipeline.
Meanwhile, exports to the United States by other modes of transport (marine, truck and rail) rose 44.1% to 16.6 million cubic metres, following four consecutive year-over-year declines, as more tankers were able to export crude oil to west coast states in 2024.
Overall, exports of Canadian crude oil and equivalents rose 5.0%, reaching an annual record of 240.4 million cubic metres in 2024. Pipelines to the United States continued to be the preferred mode of transport, with movements rising 1.1% to 213.2 million cubic metres, a new series high. Pipelines remained the predominant mode for transborder transport of crude oil, accounting for an 88.7% share of total Canadian exports in 2024.
To learn more about crude oil data, check out the Canadian Centre for Energy Information’s crude oil dashboard. To follow crude oil data throughout the year, keep an eye on the monthly "Energy statistics" release in The Daily.
Coming soon —Other energy 2024 year-in-review articles
- Electricity year in review, 2024
- Natural gas year in review, 2024
- Refined petroleum products year in review, 2024
Focus on Canada and the United States
On an annual basis, Canada produced a total of 23.7 million terajoules of primary energy in 2024. Almost two-thirds of this energy was exported to the United States, including 100% of electricity and natural gas exports and over 95% of crude oil.
Looking forward, Statistics Canada will continue to monitor crude oil production and exports.
For more data and insights on areas touched by the socio-economic relationship between Canada and the United States, see the Focus on Canada and the United States webpage.
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Contact information
For more information, contact the Statistical Information Service (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).