Feb 21, 2024
Producers set to pour half a million barrels of new daily output — more than the total production of some OPEC members — into world markets
Canada’s oil producers are poised to pour about half a million barrels of new daily output — more than the total production of some Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members — into world markets over the next year or so.
And while the deluge of new crude will be a boon to an industry that has struggled to grow recently, it threatens to expand a global supply surplus and revive the pipeline shortages that have bedevilled Canadian drillers for years, something that could once again severely depress the price of the country’s oil exports.
With an expansion of the Trans Mountain crude pipeline set to start operation in the months ahead, the supply of western Canadian oil available for export is set to rise by about 500,000 barrels a day by next year, S&P Global estimates. The added volumes — which will include increased Canadian production and some imported condensate — will take up almost all of the 590,000 barrels a day of new capacity on Trans Mountain.