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Canada's Energy Issues

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Canada’s energy issues
Introduction
Canada is the 7th largest energy consumer in the world. Canada is one of the world's five largest energy producers and is also the world's fifth-largest producer of dry natural gas. It stands out as the largest foreign supplier of energy to the United States. However, economic and political considerations are leading Canada to consider ways to diversify its trading partners, especially by expanding ties with emerging markets in Asia.

Canada is endowed with an exceptionally rich and varied set of natural resources, ranking among the five largest energy producers in the world, behind China, the United States, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. Canada produced an estimated 19 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) of primary energy in 2012. Canada was the world's seventh largest energy consumer after China, the United States, Russia, India, Japan, and Germany. Canada has a population of more than 35 million (37th largest in the world) with a gross domestic product (GDP) on a purchasing power parity basis of $1,526 billion (13th largest in the world) in 2013. Canada's economy is relatively energy intensive compared to other industrialised countries, and is largely fueled by petroleum, natural gas, and hydroelectricity.

Oil
Canada is the world's fifth-largest oil producer, and virtually all of its crude oil exports are directed to U.S. refineries. Canada is a major onshore and offshore producer of crude oil, and the recent growth in its liquid fuels production has been driven by upgraded crude oil produced from the oil sands of Alberta. Most of Canada's reserves and the expected future growth in Canada's liquid fuels production will be derived from these resources.

Coal
In 2012, Canada produced 73 million ton of coal and consumed 46 million tons, a significant change in the Canadian coal market from a decade ago. In 2003, Canada

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