CALGARY, AB, June 26, 2023 – The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) has published the 2023 Alberta Energy Outlook report, our annual publication featuring independent, comprehensive information on the state of Alberta’s energy economy.
The report shows growth in several areas of Alberta’s energy sector, including oil sands, conventional oil, natural gas, capital expenditures, and emerging energy resources such as geothermal. New for 2023, the report includes forecasts for brine-hosted lithium production.
Alberta remains the largest natural gas and oil producer in Canada, producing 62 per cent of Canada’s natural gas and 83 per cent of the oil and oil equivalents.
In 2022, total capital expenditures in Alberta’s energy industry increased from Cdn$18.5 billion in 2021 to Cdn$26.6 billion in 2022, exceeding prepandemic spending of Cdn$24.7 billion in 2019. Marketable bitumen production, which includes nonupgraded and upgraded bitumen, increased by five per cent in 2022. The number of wells drilled (including oil, gas, and bitumen) grew by 52 per cent.
Geothermal is forecast to grow at an average annual rate of 13 per cent. With the rising global demand for lithium batteries, the production of brine-hosted lithium in Alberta is forecast to be around 7600 tonnes by 2032.
The 2023 Alberta Energy Outlook report is a credible, unbiased, and comprehensive resource that governments, industry, and other key stakeholders may use for planning or making decisions about Alberta’s diverse energy sector.
About the Alberta Energy Regulator
The AER ensures the safe, efficient, orderly, and environmentally responsible development of energy resources in Alberta through our regulatory activities. For more information visit aer.ca.
