Many Americans would be surprised to know that Canada is the number one source of foreign oil for the U.S. and is poised to greatly outrank other sources of foreign oil in the next decade. The U.S. imported 1.909 million barrels/day of crude oil and 2.479 barrels of total petroleum products from Canada in April 2007 (U.S. Energy Information Administration). By comparison, Saudi Arabia is the number three source of foreign oil for the U.S. (after Mexico).
Most of this oil comes from Alberta and the tar sands. Currently, Alberta exports over 1 million barrels/day to the U.S.
U.S. demand for Canadian oil is expected to double by 2015 to 3.1 million barrels/day according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Tar sands production is expected to quadruple by 2025 to 4.65 million barrels/day according to the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board. This will put Canada in a league of its own as a source of foreign oil for the U.S.
Despite political movement towards low carbon fuel standards, billions of dollars of are being invested in tar sands development and pipeline and refinery infrastructure on both sides of the border.
Other regions of Canada’s Boreal Forest are also under intense pressure by oil and gas development, often raising conflicts with other values. The Canadian Boreal Forest's supply of natural gas has been estimated at 658 trillion cubic feet, split almost evenly between deposits in the Northwest Territories and the Arctic and east coasts.
In British Columbia, local aboriginal people are in conflict with Royal Dutch Shell’s proposal to develop coal bed methane in what is known as the “sacred headwaters” of the Skeena, Nass, and Stikine Rivers.
Soaring oil and gas prices combined with high operating costs in Alberta’s tar sands have resulted in a rush for oil and gas leases in Saskatchewan and the Horn River area of British Columbia.
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Learn more about the environmental impacts Canada's tar sands in our tar sands fact sheet >
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