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Saskatchewan's energy resources include crude oil, natural gas, coal, uranium, hydropower, wind and biomass.
In 2011, Saskatchewan exported 80 per cent of its uranium production to non-Canadian markets and was a net exporter of crude oil, natural gas and electricity. Coal mined in Saskatchewan is primarily used to generate electricity.
Approximately 33,200 people were employed in Saskatchewan in the mining, oil and gas and utilities industries, about 9.2 per cent of the province's employed labour force in 2011.
Mining and oil and natural gas extraction accounted for about 13.4 per cent of Saskatchewan's gross domestic product in 2011.
In 2011, the Saskatchewan government received more than $1.8 billion in royalties and land sales from oil and gas activities and the uranium industry.
Discover the key energy facts about Saskatchewan.
By the numbers (1MB PDF)
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Crude Oil
Saskatchewan is the second largest crude oil producer in Canada.
The first major oil discovery in Saskatchewan was in 1957 southeast of Weyburn. Light crude oil continues to be produced in this area, while heavy oil is produced in the western part of the province near Lloydminster and Kindersley.
Royalties, land sales and fees paid by the industry for oil and gas exploration and production amounted to $1.7 billion in 2011.
Saskatchewan's conventional crude oil reserves totalled 1,156 million barrels in 2010, or approximately 25.6 per cent of Canada's total.
Saskatchewan's petroleum liquids production in 2011included430,693 barrels of conventional crude oil per day, 3,455 barrels per day of pentanes plus and 4,990 barrels per day of natural gas liquids.
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Natural Gas
Saskatchewan's first commercial natural gas well was drilled in 1934. Natural gas produced in Saskatchewan tends to be sweet and dry, meaning it has low sulphur and low condensate content.
The major gas-producing region in Saskatchewan is in the southwest part of the province along the Alberta-Saskatchewan border.
Saskatchewan's natural gas reserves totalled 2.2 trillion cubic feet in 2010, or 3.2 per cent of Canada's total.
Saskatchewan's marketed natural gas production in 2010 averaged 351.3 million cubic feet per day, or about 2.5 per cent of Canada's total.
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Oil Sands
The oil sands deposits in Saskatchewan are an extension of the Athabasca Oil Sands that continue across the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, covering an area of 27,000 square kilometres. To date, there has been no production from the Saskatchewan deposits.
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Natural Gas Pipelines
Three major trunk lines run through Saskatchewan.
The TransCanada Mainline delivers natural gas from the Alberta-Saskatchewan border east to the Québec-Vermont border and connects with other natural gas pipelines in Canada. The TransCanada Foothills System and Alliance pipelines both deliver gas to export facilities on the Saskatchewan-U.S. border. Total delivery capacity is in excess of 16 billion cubic feet per day.
Trans Gas operates 14,000 kilometres of gathering systems and transmission pipelines delivering natural gas to the major inter-provincial and international pipelines.
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Crude Oil Pipelines
Kinder Morgan, Enbridge and Spectra operate liquids pipelines that cross Saskatchewan, delivering more than 2.5 million barrels of crude oil and natural gas liquids per day to eastern Canada and the northern U.S.
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Refineries
Husky's Lloydminster Asphalt Refinery is the largest manufacturer of asphalt in Western Canada. The facility refines 28,000 barrels of oil per day, largely from Husky Energy's heavy oil production, into asphalt products for road construction and maintenance, building materials, locomotive blendstock, and specialized oilfield products. Fifty-one per cent of the refinery's production is made into asphalt products.
Husky alsoowns and operates a heavy oil upgrader in Lloydminster that upgrades 75,500 barrels per day of heavy oil into synthetic oil, petroleum coke, diluents and low-sulphur diesel.
Consumers' Co-op Refinery in Regina refines about 100,000 barrels per day of oil into gasoline and other petroleum products for sale at Federated Co-operatives retail outlets in Western Canada. The refinery employs more than 600 permanent employees and 1,000 seasonal contract employees.
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Hydroelectricity
Saskatchewan has seven hydroelectric generating stations with total installed capacity of 853 megawatts.
The largest two, at 288 and 255 megawatts respectively, are the E. B. Campbell Generating Station and the Nipawin Generating Station, located on the Saskatchewan River about 335 kilometres north of Regina.
Other facilities are located on the South Saskatchewan River in southwest Saskatchewan, the Churchill River at Island Falls in the northeast part of the province, and the Athabasca River near Uranium City in the extreme northwest part of the province.
SaskPower has evaluated the northand south branches of the Saskatchewan River, the Churchill River and the Fond du Lac River for hydro potential. Twenty-seven sites have been located, 13 with potential installed capacities of 10 megawatts or more.
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Coal
Coal mining in Saskatchewan dates back to 1857, making it one of the first energy resources to be developed in the province. Coal is produced primarily in the southern-most part of the province, and tends to be low in sulphur, reducing the amount of sulphur dioxide produced when the coal is burned.
In 2010, Saskatchewan had three operating coal mines which produced an estimated 10.2 million tonnes of coal.
Approximately 90 per cent of coal produced is consumed in the province, almost all by mine-mouth electricity generating plants. Approximately 10 per cent is exported to Ontario and Manitoba, mostly for generation of electricity. A number of small industrial and commercial consumers comprise the balance of sales.
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Wind
Slightly less than five per cent of Saskatchewan's total installed capacity, or 198 megawatts is derived from wind power generated at the province's four wind farms.
When SaskPower's Centennial Wind Power Facility opened in 2006, it had the largest installed capacity, at 150 megawatts, of any wind farm in Canada. It is now fourth largest.
SaskPower's wind power facilities will offset carbon dioxide emissions by six million tonnes over the course of their 25-year life, equivalent to the emissions created by heating 37,500 homes for 25 years.
The latest wind energy project in Saskatchewan, Red Lily, located between Moosomin and Wapella, was completed in February 2011. It comprises 16 turbines with a combined installed capacity of 26.4 megawatts.
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Thermal Electricity Generation
Saskatchewan's three mine-mouth generating stations have a combined installed capacity for coal-fired thermal generation of 1,682 megawatts, about 41 per cent of the province's total. The largest of these is Boundary dam with 824 megawatts installed capacity.
The Poplar River Power Station is home to SaskPower's Emissions Control Research Facility (ECRF), which allows for testing of emissions control technologies in an actual operating power plant.
Saskatchewan also has nine generating plants that burn natural gas. Their combined installed capacity is 1,337 megawatts. The largest of these facilities, with 386 megawatts installed capacity is the Queen Elizabeth II plant near Saskatoon.
The province has six generating stations that generate electricity from waste heat produced by compressors along natural gas pipelines.
Thermal electricity facilities can generate power several different ways, including natural gas (represented by circles on the map), oil/diesel generation (squares), coal (triangles) and biomass (diamonds).
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Uranium
Uranium production began in Saskatchewan north of Lake Athabasca in the 1940s and continued there until 1982.
Current production is from three mines in the north-central part of the province – McArthur River, Rabbit Lake and McClean Lake.
Saskatchewan had 281,454 tonnes of U3O8 reserves at the end of 2011. The province is the world's second largest producer of natural uranium. In 2011, it produced 10,750 tonnes of U3O8 or approximately 17 per cent of total world production.
Saskatchewan is the only province in Canada to produce uranium. About 80 per cent of the uranium produced in the province is exported to non-Canadian markets to be used in generating electricity.
Saskatchewan has no nuclear power generating facilities.
There are five ethanol production plants in Saskatchewan with a total production capacity of 342 litres per year. There is also one biodiesel plant, which has a one million litre per year capacity.
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Biofuels
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Saskatchewan Energy Exports to the United States
