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Natural Gas - The Canadian Industry

Natural gas represents approximately one quarter of all energy consumed in Canada with consumption in 2010 of 217 million m3/d (7.7 Bcf/d). It is mostly used by the residential and commercial sectors for space heating, by the industrial sector for process heat and as a building block in chemical production, and by the electric power generation sector to produce electricity.

Canada produced about one quarter of the combined natural gas production of Canada and the U.S. in 2010. Almost 98 percent of Canadian gas is produced from the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) with Alberta producing roughly 76 percent. British Columbia and Saskatchewan contribute roughly 19 and 4 percent, respectively, of the total from the WCSB. Production from the WCSB in 2010 was approximately 408.3 million m3/d (14.4 Bcf/d) while production from the east coast offshore was approximately 8.9 million m3/d (0.3 Bcf/d).

About 53 percent of Canadian production is consumed within Canada with the remainder exported to the U.S. Natural gas exports for 2010 were 254 million m3/d (9 Bcf/d), or about 14 percent of estimated U.S. consumption. The U.S. central/midwest and northeast regions historically receive the greatest portion of Canadian exports. Approximately 57 million m3/d (2 Bcf/d) of gas was imported into Ontario from the U.S. in 2010.

North American natural gas production may also be supplemented by imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). About two per cent of North American gas demand is currently met by LNG imports, unlike oil, where about 41 per cent of demand is met by imports from outside of the continent.

See NEB publications about natural gas.

 

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Date Modified:
2011-10-28