Alberta Energy Regulator Report Shows 8 Per Cent Growth in Bitumen Production And 5 Per Cent Increase in Crude Oil Production

News Release
For immediate release
Calgary, Alberta
May 29, 2014
Alberta produced 974 million barrels of oil in 2013

The Alberta Energy Regulator’s (AER) annual reserves report, ST98: Alberta’s Energy Reserves 2013 and Supply/Demand Outlook 2014-2023 (ST 98) shows a continued trend of increased production and stable reserves in Alberta. The 2014 ST98 notes an 8 per cent growth in bitumen production and 5 per cent increase in crude oil production. These increases led to 974 million barrels of oil being produced in Alberta in 2013.

In 2013, Alberta produced 331 thousand cubic metres (m3) (2.1 million barrels) per day of raw crude bitumen from the oil sands, for a total of 121 million m3 (761 million barrels), or an 8 per cent increase compared with 2012.
Alberta’s 2013 crude oil production totalled 92.5 thousand m3 (582 thousand barrels) of oil per day, with a 2013 total of 33.8 million m3 (213 million barrels), which represents a 5 per cent increase over 2012 production totals.

The AER forecasts Alberta’s annual raw crude bitumen production will rise to 643.9 thousand m3 (4.1 million barrels) per day for a total of 235 million m3 (1.5 billion barrels) per year by 2023.

Since 1967, Alberta has produced about 1.53 billion m3 (9.63 billion barrels) of raw crude bitumen from the oil sands and about 2.7 billion m3 (16.9 billion barrels) of crude oil since 1914.

Other report highlights include the following:

Alberta’s total remaining established crude bitumen and crude oil reserves totalled 26.8 billion m3 (169 billion barrels), consisting of 26.6 billion m3 (167.2 billion barrels) of crude bitumen and 283.4 million m3 (1.8 billion barrels) of crude oil.
Remaining established marketable conventional gas reserves stood at 898 billion m3 (32 trillion cubic feet), a decrease of 2 per cent from 2012.
Remaining established reserves of natural gas liquids stood at 256.3 million m3 (1.6 billion barrels), up 2 per cent from 2012.

Backgrounder

Alberta Energy Regulator: Alberta’s Reserves 2013 and Supply/Demand Outlook 2014–2023 Report

FOR BROADCAST USE

Alberta’s energy regulator, the Alberta Energy Regulator today published its annual reserves and production report. The report notes that Alberta produced nearly one billion barrels of oil from the oil sands and through conventional drilling in 2013. The production number includes 761 million barrels of bitumen from the oil sands, and a further 213 million barrels of crude oil production.

The regulator forecasts that Alberta oil production may increase to 1.5 billion barrels per year by 2023. Alberta has produced about 9.63 billion barrels of bitumen from the oil sands since 1967, and 16.9 billion barrels of crude oil since 1914.

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For more information, please contact:
Darin Barter, AER Office of Public Affairs
Phone: 403-681-0946
E-mail: darin.barter@aer.ca

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