Financial Post Alberta oil production falls to lowest level since 2023
Alberta's oil production fell to the lowest in two years in May as wildfires and maintenance work crimped oilsands output.
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Output from Canada's biggest oil-producing province slid 397,000 barrels a day to 3.61 million barrels a day in May, the lowest since May 2023, provincial data released Thursday show. Flows from the oilsands, the world's third-largest reserve of crude, dropped 384,000 barrels a day. Output from oilsands mines slid to the lowest in more than four years.
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Production was hurt by wildfires, including one near Cold Lake that prompted Cenovus Energy Inc., Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and MEG Energy Corp. to curtail about 350,000 barrels a day in late May and early June. Oil sands producers also reduced output for maintenance work, with MEG Energy's production dropping to the lowest in data stretching back to 2019.
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Lower output from Canada, the world's fourth-largest oil supplier and the biggest foreign seller to the U.S., has combined with falling production from Mexico and a ban on Venezuelan flows to strengthen heavy crude oil prices.
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In Alberta, heavy Western Canadian Select's discount to U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate narrowed to less than US$10 a barrel from early April into late June, compared with an average US$15 a barrel in the past five years, according to General Index prices. On the Gulf Coast, Canadian heavy oil's discount to WTI is trading near the smallest since early 2022, according to Link Data prices.
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Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Electric arc furnaces are nothing new — the technology is more than a century old, and there's already a few in Canada — but Algoma is calling the achievement of production from its first of the kind furnace last month a win as it faces an existential threat from U.S. tariffs. 'We have reached a truly pivotal milestone for Algoma and the Canadian steel industry,' said chief executive Michael Garcia on a recent earnings call. 'Despite the uncertainty that the trade war has unleashed, this achievement reinforces our confidence in our transformation strategy.' 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ArcelorMittal itself just cancelled two green steel projects in Germany in June, citing high electricity prices, while last year it noted the future of several other of its European steel projects is unclear because 'there is limited willingness among customers to pay premiums for low-carbon emissions steel.' Cleveland-Cliffs, which bought Hamilton-based Stelco Holdings Inc. last year, recently shelved plans for green steel conversion at a U.S. plant that already had US$500 million in government funding secured. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Lourenco Goncalves, chief executive of Cleveland-Cliffs, cited the lack of clear hydrogen supply as part of the reason for cancelling the project. He said on a July earnings call that plans to revamp the operation using existing resources, including 'beautiful coal,' generates a very good conversation with the current U.S. Department of Energy. 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