SAGD pipelines at the Firebag oilsands project in northern Alberta. Image: Deborah Jaremko/JWN Imports of Canadian heavy crude are an increasingly important source of supply to the United States, the world’s largest refining market for such crudes, according to a new report by IHS Markit. U.S. imports of Canadian heavy crudes will approach 2.8 million bbls/d in 2018 — more than double what they were in 2012 — and could exceed 3 million bbls/d in 2020, the report said. However, IHS Markit said consolidation in the oilsands industry and lagging infrastructure is expected to slow growth in the coming years and may be a source of uncertainty for U.S. heavy oil demand in the longer term. “The effect of Canada’s expanding market share has been to shore up the U.S. heavy oil market,” IHS Markit director Vijay Muralidharan said in a statement. “Absent Canadian supply, heavy oil may otherwise be more scarce and expensive.” The U.S. is by far the world’s largest refining market for heavy oil, processing more than half of all that type of crude globally in 2018, according to the report. That capability is the result of investments by U.S. refiners over the past 20 years […]
