Natural Gas

Canada ranks third in the world in natural gas production and is a major exporter of natural gas. Most production occurs in the western provinces of Alberta and British Colombia, but also from offshore Nova Scotia on the east coast. In the north, large volumes are being produced in the Northwest Territories and attention is moving to the other two territories, Yukon and Nunavut.

Canada's remaining resources of largely conventional natural gas are estimated to be 20 trillion cubic metres, and 10 trillion cubic metres of that resource is expected to be recoverable and marketable, with a total marketable resource from both conventional and unconventional resources of 20 - 37 trillion cubic metres. At current production levels of approximately 413 million cubic metres of per day, it is projected that Canada has over 100 years of potential supply of natural gas (in the low case).

Canada has vast, under-developed unconventional gas resources which will become increasingly important in the future. The estimated natural gas trapped in unconventional reservoirs - tight gas, shale gas and coal seams is thought to be at more than 85 trillion cubic metres. If only a small part of this resource is converted into marketable reserves, it will have a significant impact on Canada's gas supply outlook. In Canada, tight and shale gas production accounted for 36 per cent of total domestic gas production in 2010 compared to 18 per cent in 2000.