At the end of each calendar month, the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER), the keeper of nearly all things related to energy data and regulation in Canada’s largest energy producing province of Alberta, releases statistical data on crude oil, natural gas and NGLs production, consumption, and exports; think of it as kind of like the Aberta equivalent of the U.S. EIA. The most recent data release at the end of July, covering data up to the month of June, generated some media attention when it was reported that June oil sands production had fallen to 2.21 MMb/d (blue column in top chart below), a significant reduction of 28% versus the month of May, and a level not seen since mid-2016. Had there been an error? Were there massive maintenance turnarounds that heavily impacted production in the month, so much that production fell to seven-year lows? Or was something just missing?
Featured Articles
- Blog
Turn Around, Look at Me - Maintenance to Curb Alberta's Synthetic Crude Oil Production This Spring
Production of synthetic crude oil that is processed from Alberta’s oil sands reached record highs at the end of 2020 after touching on two year lows just four months earlier. However, these highs could be undermined and sink to four-year lows for a short period of time this spring with what appears to be a heavier than usual slate of maintenance work on three of Alberta’s four upgraders, the immense processing units that produce synthetic crude oil from bitumen. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at the upgraders, the timing of maintenance, and what this might mean for synthetic crude oil production and exports.
- Analyst Insight
Wildfire Prompts Suncor to Curtail Output at its Firebag Oil Sands Production Site
Suncor has shut down its Firebag oil sands production facility as July 4 due to a nearby wildfire, affecting about 6% of Alberta's total oil production. Time to restart is not known at this time.
- Analyst Insight
Alberta’s Crude Oil Production Rebounds Strongly in June
Alberta's June production roared back from two-year lows in May thanks to big gains in synthetic and non-upgraded bitumen output.
