Supply and disposition of refined petroleum products, October 2016
Archived Content
Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.
Released: 2017-01-13
7.9 million cubic metres
October 2016
-5.6% 
(12-month change)
Refinery receipts decrease
Canadian refineries received 7.2 million cubic metres of crude oil in October, a decrease of 2.6% from the same month in 2015.
Chart 1
Refinery receipts of crude oil and equivalent products
In October, refinery receipts of domestic crude oil decreased 2.0% compared with October 2015, to 5.1 million cubic metres.
Crude oil imports decreased 3.9% from October 2015, to 2.1 million cubic metres. Imports accounted for 29.7% of total crude oil received at refineries in Canada.
Crude oil inventories held at refineries totalled 4.0 million cubic metres in October, up 14.7% compared with the same month of the previous year.
Refineries continue to use more non-conventional crude
In October, total crude oil and equivalent products used in refinery production decreased 9.5% from the same month a year earlier to 6.8 million cubic metres.
Chart 2
Crude oil used in refinery production
Year over year, this is the 10th consecutive month where the refinery use of conventional crude oil decreased and non-conventional crude increased.
Conventional light crude oil used in refinery production was down 32.3% while conventional heavy crude oil was up 38.7% compared with October 2015. Both types of non-conventional crude oil increased in October: synthetic was up 28.2% and crude bitumen increased 6.9%.
Refinery production and sales down
Year over year, refinery production decreased 5.6% to 7.9 million cubic metres in October.
Chart 3
Domestic sales of refined petroleum products, by product
Diesel fuel sales fell 3.5% in October, largely contributing to a 1.8% decline in overall domestic sales of refined petroleum products for the month. Meanwhile, domestic sales of motor gasoline increased by 1.8% compared to the same month a year earlier.
Imports up and exports down
Canada imported 1.4 million cubic metres of refined petroleum products in October, up 13.3% from the same month in 2015.
Meanwhile, exports of refined petroleum products decreased 12.1% to 1.3 million cubic metres.
Inventories increase
Closing inventories of refined petroleum products held at refineries increased 3.4% year over year to 7.5 million cubic metres in October. On a year-over-year basis, this represented the fourth successive monthly increase in closing inventories.
Note to readers
The Monthly Refined Petroleum Products survey collects data on the activities of every Canadian refinery involved in the production of refined petroleum products (North American Industry Classification System [NAICS] 324000) and of selected major distributors of these products (NAICS 412000).
Domestic sales include all sales by reporting companies, excluding exports and sales to other reporting companies.
Refinery receipts of crude oil and equivalent hydrocarbons (condensates and pentanes plus) from domestic and foreign sources are for refinery consumption or storage.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).
- Date modified: