In 2021, value of energy trade between the United States and Canada rose from 2020 lows

In 2021, the value of U.S. energy imports from Canada totaled $102 billion, which is 76% higher compared with 2020. The value of U.S. energy exports to Canada totaled $21.9 billion, 40% higher compared with 2020, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Crude oil and petroleum products combined accounted for 89% of the value of all U.S. energy imports from Canada in 2021. U.S. energy imports from Canada in 2021 rose to their highest level since 2014 because U.S. domestic petroleum consumption increased as the economy recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, the monetary value of energy exports from the United States to Canada increased to $22 billion from a low of $16 billion in 2020.

U.S. crude oil imports from Canada in 2021 averaged 3.9 million barrels per day (b/d)—up from 3.6 million b/d in 2020. As the total volume of U.S. crude oil imports from Canada rose in 2021, Canada’s share of total U.S. crude oil imports reached its highest level yet, at 64%. In particular, crude oil imports from Canada replaced imports from Venezuela after U.S. imports of Venezuela’s oil stopped in 2019.

In 2021, the United States exported an average of 313,000 b/d of crude oil to Canada, a decrease from 420,000 b/d in 2020, partially as a result of crude oil production declines in the U.S. Midwest region (PADD 2). U.S. crude oil exports to Canada are typically low-density and low-sulfur crude oil grades that are shipped to Eastern Canada. U.S. crude oil imported from Canada tends to be high-sulfur crude oil from oil sands in Western Canada, most of which is shipped to U.S. Midwest refineries.

Petroleum product trade between the United States and Canada is relatively balanced in both volume and value. In 2021, the United States imported 582,000 b/d of petroleum products from Canada, up from a low of 529,000 b/d in 2020. The value of petroleum product imports from Canada to the United States was $15 billion in 2020, a 64% increase from 2020. The value of U.S. petroleum product exports to Canada increased by 53% to $12 billion in 2021.

Principal contributor: Natalie Kempkey