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Saskatchewan’s energy resources include crude oil, natural gas, coal, uranium, hydropower, wind and biomass.
In 2007, Saskatchewan exported all of its uranium production and was a net exporter of crude oil, natural gas and electricity. Coal mined in Saskatchewan is primarily used to generate electricity.
Approximately 7,500 people are employed in Saskatchewan in the oil and gas and utilities industries, about 1.4 per cent of the province’s employed labour force.
Energy accounts for about 17 per cent of Saskatchewan’s gross domestic product.
In 2007, the Saskatchewan government received more than $1.9 billion in royalties and land sales from oil and gas activities and dividends from SaskPower.
Discover the key energy facts about Saskatchewan.
By the numbers (428KB 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 $1.8 billion in 2007.
Saskatchewan’s conventional crude oil reserves totalled 1.2 billion barrels in 2007, or approximately 24 per cent of Canada’s total.
Saskatchewan’s conventional crude oil production in 2007 averaged 428,000 barrels per day, or 30.8 per cent of Canada’s total. There were 24,900 producing wells in the province in 2007.
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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 3.4 trillion cubic feet in 2007, or 5.8 per cent of Canada’s total.
Saskatchewan’s natural gas production in 2007 averaged 566 million cubic feet per day, or about 3.4 per cent of Canada’s total. In 2007, there were 19,500 producing natural gas wells.
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Oilsands
The oil sands deposits in Saskatchewan are an extension of the Athabasca Oil Sands that continue across the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. To date, there has been no production from the Saskatchewan deposits although one oil sands company has taken a 620,000-acre land position. Current activity includes delineating the resource potential and testing recovery methods which will likely be in-situ as opposed to surface mining. Estimates of recoverable bitumen range from 1.2 to 2.3 billion barrels.
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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.
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 25,000 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-three per cent of the refinery’s production is made into asphalt products. Forty-six per cent of its production is shipped to the United States.
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.
Both the Saskatchewan River and Churchill Rivers are being considered for new large-scale hydroelectric projects.
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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 2007, Saskatchewan had three operating coal mines which produced an estimated 10.3 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
Almost five per cent of Saskatchewan’s total installed capacity, or 171.2 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 third 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.
There are plans for an additional wind energy project between Moosomin and Wapella. The $60 million dollar Red Lily Wind Farm will have 24.75 megawatts installed capacity and is scheduled to be completed in 2011.
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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 1,664 megawatts, about 48 per cent of the province’s total.
The Boundary Dam Power Station was commissioned in 1959 with additional units constructed in 1970, 1973 and 1978. In 2003, electrostatic precipitators were installed on all units to reduce air particulate emissions.
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.
The Shand Power Station uses powdered limestone and water to remove sulphur dioxide emissions and finely-tuned burner temperature and air quantity to reduce nitrogen oxide formation by up to 50 per cent.
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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 has almost 300,000 tonnes of U3O8 reserves. The province is the world's largest producer of natural uranium. In 2007, it produced 11,200 tonnes of U3O8 or approximately 22% of total world production.
Saskatchewan is the only province in Canada to produce uranium. More than 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.
