Canada is the Largest Supplier of Oil to US

United States oil imports from Canada are now greater than imports from the entire Persian Gulf. In 2001, 23.3% of US oil came from the Persian Gulf, 15.4% came from Canada, 12.1% was imported from Mexico, 14.0% from Saudi Arabia, and 13.1% from Venezuela. In 2006, US oil imports from the Persian Gulf was at 16.2% and the imports from Canada were at 16.9%, 12.4% from Mexico, 10.7% from Saudi Arabia, and 10.3% from Venezuela. The source of US imports for both petroleum and related products has shifted during the years 2001 and 2006.

The trend is very interesting, in that oil imports from Canada now exceed imports from the entire Persian Gulf, and oil imports from Mexico now exceed imports from Saudi Arabia.

Canadian oil companies recently announced $38 billion of new construction in Alberta's oil patch. And new projects in Canada which have been announced over the past year total something close to $200 billion worth.

At the moment, Canada's oil reserves are the second largest in the world, behind Saudi Arabia. This change has happened rather quickly and it is predicted that within a decade, Canada will have a higher daily oil production than any other country in the world, including Saudi Arabia.

Ahead of Saudi Arabia in 2004, Canada took first place, as the largest foreign supplier of crude oil to the US, according to data released by the Energy Information Agency of the US Department of Energy. That year Canada supplied to the United States 2.1 mm bpd of oil, crude and refined combined. From 1999 to 2004, consecutively, Canada was the number one foreign supplier of oil to the United States. Canadian oil production continues to increase each year, with production expansion of Alberta's oil sands, and of the Atlantic offshore.

With planned investments, oil sands production is projected to double by the end of the decade. In 2004, over a million bpd of crude oil were produced from the oil sands, about a third of total Canadian production. At roughly 180 bn barrels (5 bn conventional and 175 bn established oil sands), Canada has the second largest reserves in the world.

Since the signing of the NAFTA in 1994, the two-way trade between Canada and the United States has more than doubled in value. With $1.2 bn in trade now crossing the Canada-US border every single day, they are each other's largest trading partner.

An important part of this bilateral trade is energy. Canada is the largest supplier of not only oil, but natural gas and electricity also, to the United States. Oil Companies within the United States, like Triple Diamond Energy Corporation watch the amount of imports the US needs to help gauge their production.