Canadian crude oil reaches new heights in 2025

Production of crude oil and equivalent products rose for the fifth consecutive year in 2025, up 4.0% from 2024 and reaching a new annual record of 310.9 million cubic metres.

Increased production in Alberta drove the overall increase, following the completion of the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline. In operation for its first full year in 2025, the pipeline eased the export bottleneck, which has limited Canadian crude production in the past, and has provided new opportunities to deliver Canadian crude oil to markets in Asia. Production in Newfoundland and Labrador also rose in 2025, as some offshore oil platforms came back online, following extended maintenance in 2024. 

In 2025, crude oil from the Alberta oil sands continued to account for the highest share of nationwide production, rising 3.9% to 203.1 million cubic metres. Production of crude bitumen drove this increase, up by 4.6% to 127.1 million cubic metres. Following the fall maintenance period, monthly bitumen production reached 11.6 million cubic metres in December 2025, the highest monthly production on record. 

Similarly, synthetic crude oil production rose 2.7% to 76.0 million cubic metres in 2025, reaching a monthly record high of 7.1 million cubic metres in November, following fall maintenance at some upgraders. Production of equivalent products (condensate and pentanes plus)—used as diluents to facilitate crude bitumen transportation via pipelines—also reached record high production in 2025. It rose 7.2% to 32.9 million cubic metres, though this was a slower pace than in 2024 (+10.3%).

Oil extraction (excluding oil sands) also contributed to the overall increase in production of crude oil and equivalent products, rising 3.1% to 75.0 million cubic metres in 2025, although this was just shy of its 2019 peak (75.7 million cubic metres). The growth was driven by light and medium crude oil (+4.8%), while production of heavy crude edged up 0.1% to 26.4 million cubic metres, narrowly surpassing the previous record-high volumes observed in 2024.

The largest contribution to the increase in light and medium crude oil came from Newfoundland and Labrador, where offshore production totalled 13.9 million cubic metres, up 14.5% from 2024 and the largest year-over-year increase in the current data series. In 2025, the White Rose and North Amethyst oil fields resumed operations, with the return of the SeaRose Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel, which had been out for maintenance since January 2024. Further expansion of the White Rose oil field is expected in 2026, with a new platform set to begin operations in the second half of the year.

Exports of crude oil and equivalent products rose for the fifth consecutive year in 2025, increasing 2.5% to a new record of 249.9 million cubic metres. This was mostly due to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and a shift in destinations for some exports. For the first time since the start of the series, the overall increase was driven by exports to countries other than the United States, up 132.6% to 27.2 million cubic metres. 

Exports to the United States fell 4.0% to 222.7 million cubic metres in 2025, the first year-over-year decrease since 2020. While most Canadian crude oil exports continued to flow to the United States by pipeline (82.1%) in 2025, increased shipments through British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador have opened new foreign markets. Overall, just over one-tenth (10.9%) of exports were destined for countries other than the United States, more than triple the average share from the 2016-to-2024 period (2.8%).

The year 2025 was another record year for Canadian crude oil, with record production and expanded export capacity on both coasts, giving greater access to Canada’s trade partners worldwide. 

For more information about new crude oil export destinations following the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, see: The Trans Mountain pipeline is delivering.

For more information on energy in Canada, including production, consumption, international trade and much more, visit the Canadian Centre for Energy Information portal and follow #EnergyNews on social media.

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