Petroleum Production in Canada

Petroleum production in Canada is a major industry which is important to the economy of North America. Canada is the sixth largest oil producing country in the world. In 2008 it produced an average of 438,000 cubic metres per day (2,750,000 bbl/d) of crude oil, bitumen and natural gas condensate. Of that amount, 45% was conventional crude oil, 49.5% was bitumen from oil sands, and 5.5% was condensate from natural gas wells. Most of Canadian petroleum production, approximately 283,000 cubic metres per day (1,780,000 bbl/d), is exported. Canada is the largest single source of oil imports into the United States.

The petroleum industry in Canada is also referred to as the Canadian "Oil Patch"; the term refers especially to upstream operations (exploration and production of oil and gas), and to a lesser degree to downstream operations (refining, distribution, and selling of oil and gas products). In 2005, almost 25,000 new oil wells were spudded (drilled) in Canada. Daily, over 100 new wells are spudded in the province of Alberta alone.