Crude oil production in Alberta, Canada’s main oil-producing province, hit a record high in July as companies are boosting productivity and output as the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline expanded access to takeaway capacity.
Producers in Alberta pumped as much as 4.32 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude in July—an all-time high, according to data from the Alberta Energy Regulator cited by Bloomberg.
Oil sands output only also saw a record-high level of 3.67 million bpd, the data showed, as companies improved production rates at in-situ bitumen production.
Year to date to July, Alberta’s oil production was 154,000 bpd higher compared to the January-July period last year, per the regulator’s data.
Alberta’s oil producers have been ramping up crude output this year as the expanded TMX pipeline now provides increased transportation capacity for Canadian producers to get their oil out of Alberta and into the Pacific Coast and then to the U.S. West Coast or Asian markets.
Last year, the Trans Mountain pipeline finally completed its expansion – after years of delays – and tripled the capacity of the original pipeline to 890,000 bpd from 300,000 bpd to carry crude from Alberta’s oil sands to British Columbia’s coast.
Apart from using additional takeaway capacity, Canadian oil sands producers are also raising output by reducing maintenance times and extending maintenance cycles to squeeze more oil and raise efficiencies.
Despite lower oil prices this year, Canada’s oil sands production is expected to reach an annual all-time high of 3.5 million bpd this year, thanks to optimization and efficiency at producing assets, S&P Global Commodity Insights said in June in its latest outlook.
This year, production is set for a record annual average of 3.5 million bpd, up by 5% compared to the 2024 output, while oil sands volumes are expected to top 3.9 million bpd by 2030, per S&P Global Commodity Insights. The projection for 2030 is 500,000 bpd higher compared to the 2024 production level and is 100,000 bpd – or almost 3% — higher compared to the previous 10-year outlook by S&P.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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