Crude Oil Markets

Alberta crude oil and bitumen supply a number of markets. The Alberta market takes 22 percent of the output, followed by export markets which account for 38 percent, and the remaining 40 percent goes to the rest of Canada.

U.S. refineries around Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul are the main export markets for Alberta crude, with more than half being heavy crude.

Alberta's six refineries process part of the province's conventional and synthetic crude oil production. Their crude oil and condensate capacity is almost 63,000 cubic metres per day. Three of these refineries are designed to process primarily light and medium conventional crude oil. Two are world-class facilities which together account for 75 percent of Alberta's total refinery capacity.