Canada’s top oil and gas operators saw wild swings in commodity prices over the last five years.

Oil prices ranged from lows of US$18 per barrel (negative futures) in April of 2020 peak pandemic to reach $140 per barrel in the second quarter of 2022 as the war in Ukraine hit markets.

North American natural gas prices have seen similar swings, with regional markets sometimes reaching an effective price of $0/mcf, while climbing to levels as high as $20/mcf in other markets.

At the same time, market access has improved for Canadian operators, allowing them to push supply into higher value physical markets. New infrastructure has increased capacity to the US Gulf Coast oil refineries and export terminals and when TMX comes on stream next year it will further diversify physical markets for Canadian oil production, said Mark Young, senior analyst with Evaluate Energy.

“The North American natural gas grid is increasingly becoming interconnected as well, allowing Canadian operators to supply regional markets across the US,” Young added. “Growth in US LNG exports has allowed Canadian operators to reach offshore markets in some instances as well.”

Read more here in the 2023 Top Operators Report.