Pipelines in Canada received 21.9 million cubic metres of crude oil and equivalent products from fields and plants in November, up 2.4 per cent compared with the same month in 2017, says Statistics Canada.

The vast majority of these receipts (87.8 per cent) originated in Alberta, added the federal agency on Thursday.

“In November, closing inventories of crude oil totalled 12.5 million cubic metres, down 2.9 per cent year over year,” said StatsCan. “Pipelines delivered 7.8 million cubic metres of crude oil to Canadian refineries in November, up 7.2 per cent compared with the same month a year earlier. Of the total volume, 62.6 per cent was sent to refineries in the western provinces.

“In November, pipelines exported 15.4 million cubic metres of crude oil and equivalent products to the United States, up 15.5 per cent year over year. Meanwhile, imports totalled 1.5 million cubic metres, down 16.6 per cent from the previous year. Pipelines received 2.9 million cubic metres of propane, butane, and other products from Canadian fields and plants in November, while closing inventories totalled 1.9 million cubic metres.”

Statistics Canada also reported Thursday that natural gas transmission pipelines received 551.6 million gigajoules of natural gas from fields, gathering systems and plants in November, down 3.1 per cent from the same month in 2017.

In November, natural gas transmission and distribution systems delivered 227.9 million gigajoules to industrial consumers, 68.0 million gigajoules to residential consumers and 59.9 million gigajoules to commercial and institutional consumers, it said, adding that Canadian natural gas distribution systems reported $703.9 million in revenues from residential consumers and $331.5 million from commercial and institutional consumers in November.

“Alberta deliveries of natural gas amounted to 180.1 million gigajoules in November. The vast majority (83.0 per cent) were to the industrial sector, which accounted for 42.0 per cent of all natural gas delivered in Canada,” explained the federal agency.

“Meanwhile, natural gas transmission and distribution systems delivered 89.6 million gigajoules of natural gas in Ontario. Of this total, 33.2 million gigajoules were delivered to the residential sector, which accounted for 48.8 per cent of deliveries to residential consumers in Canada.”

It said opening inventories of natural gas in November held in Canadian facilities totalled 962.3 million gigajoules. During the month, inventories decreased 2.0 per cent to 943.5 million gigajoules. This was the first decline in inventories in six months as demand for natural gas increases in the winter months. Additionally, this was the lowest recorded November inventory level since this data series started in January 2016.

– Mario Toneguzzi for Calgary’s Business

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