Many countries like to talk about energy independence, but Canada is one of the few to come close to that elusive goal. For many years, Western Canada has produced more than enough crude oil to satisfy the demand of refineries in the region. More recently, a combination of rising Western Canadian oil production, and new and reworked pipelines, has enabled many of Canada’s eastern refineries to increase their intake of Western Canadian barrels. In the few remaining cases where they can’t, imported barrels from the U.S. have filled the gap, leaving crude imports from overseas accounting for just 1% of the market. Not surprisingly, Canada is also a net exporter of refined products, with refiners in Western Canada, and especially Atlantic Canada, producing far more than the country’s demand. Today, we conclude our series on Canada’s refining sector with a look at its growing reliance on Western Canadian crude oil and its ability to meet most of Canada’s need for gasoline and distillates.
Canadian crude output is rising, requiring new export routes. As traditional pathways face constraints, the U.S. Rockies—especially the Guernsey, WY hub—are emerging as key corridors for moving Canadian heavy crude to downstream markets, including the Gulf Coast.
As we discussed in Part 1 of this series, development of immense conventional oil reserves and unconventional bitumen reserves from the oil sands has enabled Canada’s 17 refineries to steadily reduce their dependence on imported crude. In fact, the U.S. is now almost the exclusive provider of Canada’s remaining import needs. In Part 2, we delved into the nine refineries in Western Canada, which are supplied entirely by in-region crude oil production. In Part 3, we discussed the eight refineries in the eastern half of Canada: four in Ontario, two in Quebec, and one each in New Brunswick and Newfoundland — so that blog will be a useful reference as we continue the discussion of those refineries. Today, we conclude the series with a look at how many refineries in Eastern Canada gained increasing access to Western Canadian and U.S. crude oil — displacing imports from other overseas sources in the process — and at how important exports of refined products are to some of these same refineries.
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About the song
"I Want You to Want Me" was written by Rick Nielsen and appeared originally as the fourth song on side one of Cheap Trick's second album, In Color. Released as the first single from the album in September 1977, it failed to chart in the U.S. However, when the song was released as a single in Japan, it went to #1 there, and paved the way for CBS to release the live album Cheap Trick at Budokan in 1979 in the states. When the live version of the song from that album was released as a single in April 1979, it went to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and has been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Personnel on the record were: Robin Zander (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Rick Nielsen (lead guitar, backing vocals), Tom Petersson (bass, backing vocals), and Bun E. Carlos (drums).
Cheap Trick at Budokan was recorded live in Japan in April 1978; the album was produced by Cheap Trick. Released in the U.S. in February 1979, the LP went to #4 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. It has been certified 3X Platinum by the RIAA. Two singles were released from the album.
Cheap Trick are an American rock band formed in Rockford, IL, in 1973. Eight members have passed through the band since its inception, with Robin Zander and Rick Nielsen being in the fold from the start. The band has released 19 studio albums, six live albums, 17 compilation albums, four EPs, and 64 singles. Cheap Trick has sold more than 20 million records worldwide and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016. The band continues to record and tour, with a North American tour scheduled to begin in late April.
Comments
You state that the primary conduit for transporting Western Canadian crude to Ontario is Line 5. In fact, Line 5 transports light crude to Ontario with a capacity of about 540,000 bpd while Western Canadian heavy crude travels out of Superior on Line 61 to Flanagan, Illinois and then on to Sarnia, Ontario via Line 78 with a capacity of about 570,000 bpd with the capacity into Sarnia being about 500,000 bpd. So, in fact, the light Line 5 and heavy Line 78 conduits are almost evenly split.