With the world population doubling in the last 50 years, energy demands, sources and technologies are in a rapid growth phase. It is useful to understand from whence we come. For a detailed and balanced review of Canada’s oil history, I highly recommend Calgarian Chris Turner’s award-winning book The Patch: The People, Pipelines, and Politics of the Oil Sands.
The chart below from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows the world’s top ten oil producers with Canada at number four behind the US, Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Most of all, it is important to appreciate that Americans and Canadians are world-leading oil consumers. As shown in the table below, with 327 million inhabitants, America is by far the world’s largest consumer, on an absolute and per capita basis. With its relatively small population of just 37 million, Canada is still 9th overall in consumption and some of the most carbon-intensive people on earth. We have much room for energy efficiency improvements! That’s a good thing because heavily indebted Canadians are also in much need of wasting less and saving more.
The clip below on how the US has become the world’s top oil producer is also worthwhile.
The U.S. has more than doubled its crude output over the last decade. Much of the growth is due to the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico. WSJ traces the hotspot of North America’s crude oil boom, with a look at challenges that producers in the region face. Here is a direct video link.
Also see The Shale Boom in the Permian is slowing down on high well-decline rates and cash burn.
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