Did you know that Canada is the world’s fourth-largest producer and exporter of oil and the fourth-largest producer and sixth-largest exporter of natural gas?
Generating billions of dollars in government revenues each year and employing hundreds of thousands of Canadians, the oil and gas sector is a major economic mainstay for our nation and an integral part of local communities from coast to coast.
Here’s a list of more than 75 facts on oil and gas in Canada that should bring you up-to-date on just how important our world-class industry is for the Canadian economy - and why we should be a global supplier of choice for decades to come.
Oil & Gas: General Facts
Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin - Packers Plus
1 – Canada’s largest source of oil and gas is the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB), which spans across Northeastern British Columbia, Most of Alberta, Southern Saskatchewan and Southwestern Manitoba (PSAC)
2 – Canada is home to the world’s 3rd largest proven oil reserves after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela with 171 billion barrels, of which 165 billion are located in the oil sands (PSAC)
3 – Of those billions of barrels, only 20 per cent is mineable while the remaining 80 per cent too deep and must be extracted using in situ methods (NRC)
4 – Approximately 97 per cent of Canada’s oil sands land surface area can only be developed using in situ methods which ensures minimal land disturbance
Canadian Oil Sands - Natural Resources Canada
5 – Over 63 billion barrels of oil and 224 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves are estimated to be found offshore Newfoundland and Labrador (Nalcor Energy)
6 – Offshore operations on the east coast account for more than five per cent of Canada’s total oil production (NRC)
7 – Canada is home to the world’s 17th largest proven natural gas reserves (NRC)
8 – Canada’s vast natural gas reserves could sustain current production levels for up to 300 years (NRC)
9 – Canada’s first well was drilled in Ontario in 1858, making the industry more than 150 years old (PSAC)
10 – Canada has an extensive network of 840,000 kilometres of pipelines that carry crude oil to domestic and U.S. refineries (NRC)
Oil & Gas: The Economy
11 – The oil and gas industry contributed $105 billion to Canada’s economy (GDP) in 2020 (CAPP)
12 – The oil and gas sector supported more than 500,000 direct and indirect jobs across the country in 2019 (CAPP)
13 – Between 2017-2019, an average of $10 billion in revenues was generated by the oil and gas sector for Canadian governments (CAPP)
14 – Oil sands companies spent $4 billion on supplies and services from 2,711 companies located in almost every province and territory of Canada in 2019 (CAPP)
15 – Oil and gas domestic exports were valued at $122 billion in 2019, of which 96 per cent were accounted for by the U.S. (NRC)
16 – Energy exports accounted for 23 per cent of Canada’s total goods exported in 2019, with oil and gas accounting for the lion’s share (NRC)
17 – Between 2014-2018, the energy sector’s share of total taxes paid by all industries was 7.4 per cent and brought in over 10 per cent of all operating revenues earned by governments in Canada (NRC)
18 – For every job created in the oil sands sector, 2.5 jobs are created elsewhere in Canada (CERI)
19 – $701 billion – cumulative fiscal contribution generated by the energy industry for Canadian governments between 2000-2019, $505 billion of which came from oil and gas (Canadian Energy Centre)
20 – $530 billion – total projected economic impact of all upstream oil and gas operations in Canada between 2020-2025 (CERI)
21 – $300 billion – total projected economic impact of upstream oil sands operations in Canada between 2020-2025 (CERI)
22 – $177 billion - total projected economic impact of conventional upstream oil operations in Canada between 2020-2025 (CERI)
23 – $53 billion – total projected economic impact of upstream natural gas operations in Canada between 2020-2025 (CERI)
24 – $22.6 billion – total projected net tax revenues from upstream oil and gas operations in Canada between 2020-2025 (CERI)
25 – 2.4 million jobs – total projected full-time equivalent jobs created by upstream oil and gas operations in Canada between 2020-2025 (CERI)
26 - Canada's Atlantic offshore oil and gas industry directly and indirectly employs about 27,000 people (NOIA)
27 - Canada's Atlantic offshore industry supports more than 600 supply and service companies (NOIA)
28 - Over the past decade, the offshore oil and gas industry has accounted for roughly 25 per cent of Newfoundland and Labrador's economy (NOIA)
29 - From 2020-2064, more than $94 billion of revenues could be generated by a healthy LNG industry for governments in British Columbia (Conference Board of Canada)
30 - From 2020-2064, about $158 billion of revenues could be generated by the B.C. LNG industry for Canadian governments (Conference Board of Canada)
31 - From 2020-2064, more than $500 billion of new investment into Canada could be created by a healthy LNG industry in British Columbia (Conference Board of Canada)
32 - From 2020-2064, more than 71,000 jobs could be created within British Columbia by a healthy LNG industry (Conference Board of Canada)
33 - From 2020-2064, close to 100,000 jobs could be created across Canada by a healthy LNG industry in British Columbia (Conference Board of Canada)
Oil & Gas: Indigenous & Communities
34 – Oil sands producers acquired $5.9 billion of goods and services from Indigenous suppliers between 2017-2019 (CAPP)
35 – Oil sands producers invested more than $64 million in Indigenous communities in 2019, up from $58 million in 2018 and $41.8 million in 2017 (CAPP)
36 – 7.4 per cent of workers in Canada’s oil and gas sector identified as Indigenous in 2019, up from 4.8 per cent in 2018 (CAPP)
37 – Since 2012, oil sands operators have spent more than $80 million a year on average to support community resilience programs, education and skills development, and youth and Indigenous engagement (BMO Capital Markets)
38 – Since 2012, oil sands producers have spent $13 billion on Indigenous sourced products and services on average per year (BMO Capital Markets)
39 – In 2018, average female employment in the oil sands sector improved to 22%, up from 20% in 2016 (BMO Capital Markets)
40 – Since 2012, the number of workplace injuries has dropped 50% to a record low of 0.38 incidents per 200,000 work hours in 2018 (BMO Capital Markets)
41 – In 2015-2016, there were nearly 400 Indigenous companies in 65 communities across Alberta that had direct business dealings with oil sands operators worth approximately $3.33 billion (CERI)
Oil & Gas: Global Supply & Demand
42 – The world will need up to $17 trillion of additional investment into the oil and gas sector by 2040 to avoid supply shortages (IEA, Exxon)
43 – Global liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand is expected to nearly double to 700 million tonnes by 2040 (Shell)
44 – Up to $20 trillion of new investment in upstream oil and gas operations is required through to 2050 to keep up with global demand (BP)
45 – To meet the global cumulative demand over the next 30 years, undeveloped and undiscovered resources totalling 313 billion barrels of oil need to be added to currently producing assets (Rystad Energy)
46 – An additional 27 to 30 million barrels of oil equivalent will be needed by 2022 to close the gap between dropping production levels and output declines in existing fields (IEF & BCG)
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