In 2021, value of US and Canada energy trade rose from 2020 lows

In 2021, US energy trade with Canada rose to their highest level since 2014 because US domestic petroleum consumption increased as the economy recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In particular, crude oil imports from Canada replaced imports from Venezuela after US imports of Venezuela’s oil stopped in 2019. Syncrude photo.

This article was published by the US Energy Information Administration on May 9, 2022.

By Natalie Kempkey

In 2021, the value of US energy imports from Canada totalled $102 billion, which is 76 per cent higher compared with 2020. The value of US energy exports to Canada totalled $21.9 billion, 40 per cent higher compared with 2020, according to data from the US Census Bureau.

value of selected energy trade between Canada and the United States

Source: Graph by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) data published by the U.S. Census Bureau

Crude oil and petroleum products combined accounted for 89 per cent of the value of all US energy imports from Canada in 2021. US energy imports from Canada in 2021 rose to their highest level since 2014 because US domestic petroleum consumption increased as the economy recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, the monetary value of energy exports from the United States to Canada increased to $22 billion from a low of $16 billion in 2020.

monthly volumes of selected energy commodities trade with Canada

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Petroleum Supply Monthly

US crude oil imports from Canada in 2021 averaged 3.9 million barrels per day (b/d)—up from 3.6 million b/d in 2020. As the total volume of US crude oil imports from Canada rose in 2021, Canada’s share of total US crude oil imports reached its highest level yet, at 64 per cent. In particular, crude oil imports from Canada replaced imports from Venezuela after US imports of Venezuela’s oil stopped in 2019.

In 2021, the United States exported an average of 313,000 b/d of crude oil to Canada, a decrease from 420,000 b/d in 2020, partially as a result of crude oil production declines in the US Midwest region (PADD 2). US crude oil exports to Canada are typically low-density and low-sulphur crude oil grades that are shipped to Eastern Canada. US crude oil imported from Canada tends to be high-sulphur crude oil from oil sands in Western Canada, most of which is shipped to US Midwest refineries.

Petroleum product trade between the United States and Canada is relatively balanced in both volume and value. In 2021, the United States imported 582,000 b/d of petroleum products from Canada, up from a low of 529,000 b/d in 2020. The value of petroleum product imports from Canada to the United States was $15 billion in 2020, a 64 per cent increase from 2020. The value of US petroleum product exports to Canada increased by 53 per cent to $12 billion in 2021.

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