US-Canada energy trade valued at US$151 billion in 2024

The US Energy Information Administration has noted that the value of energy trade between the US and Canada remained steady in 2024 at an estimated US$151 billion compared with US$154 billion in 2023, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Energy trade value is the total value of energy imports and exports between two countries and is driven by commodity volumes and prices. Most of the US-Canada trade value is US energy imports from Canada – US$124 billion in 2024 – rather than from US energy exports to Canada, which totalled US$27 billion last year.

The volume of crude oil and natural gas traded between the two countries increased in 2024, but the value was relatively unchanged because prices for these commodities were lower on average than in 2023.

More recently, crude oil trade volumes across the US-Canada border have decreased. As of 6 March 2025, Canada’s energy exports to the US are subject to a 10% tariff. Crude oil accounts for the largest component of US-Canada energy trade, and in March and April of this year, the volume of US crude oil imports from Canada and US crude oil exports to Canada fell by about 5% and 28%, respectively, compared with the same period in 2024, according to data from the EIA’s ‘Petroleum Supply Monthly’.

Although the EIA expects any future changes to tariff policy could also affect cross-border energy trade volumes, the US is likely to remain the preferred destination for Canada’s crude oil given the existing pipeline infrastructure connecting the two markets. Relatively complex US petroleum refineries tend to prefer heavy (dense) crude oils, such as those produced in Canada.

Crude oil

Canada is a key source of US crude oil imports, and Canada was the primary source of US crude oil imports in 2024. US crude oil imports from Canada in 2024 averaged 4.1 million bpd, 5% more than in 2023, partly because the Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline project was placed in service. Canada sends crude oil from production centres in Alberta to the Pacific Coast in British Columbia for export by oil tanker to foreign markets, including those in the US West Coast region.

US crude oil exports to Canada are small by comparison, averaging 360 000 bpd in 2024. US crude oil exports to Canada are typically low-density and low-sulfur crude oil grades shipped to eastern Canada.

Petroleum products

Petroleum products trade between the US and Canada declined slightly in 2024 because US petroleum product imports increased by 5% and exports decreased by 8%. The decline in US petroleum product exports to Canada was driven in part by increased motor gasoline supplies in Canada that reduced the need for imports.

Natural gas

The value of natural gas trade fell significantly in 2024 due to lower natural gas prices. US natural gas imports from Canada in 2024 averaged 8.5 billion ft³/d, 7% more than in 2023, but the value of these imports fell 43% in 2024. Similarly, US natural gas exports to Canada fell by 3% in 2024 to an average of 2.7 billion ft3/d, and their value fell by 37%.

Most natural gas traded between the US and Canada is sent by pipeline. Most US natural gas imports from Canada arrive at the western and central portions of the border, and US natural gas exports are more often sent from northeastern states into Ontario.

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/31072025/us-canada-energy-trade-valued-at-us151-billion-in-2024/