Canadian oil exports increase

CALGARY, Alberta, April 16 (UPI) -- The Canadian government said 2.7 million barrels of oil per day were exported in February, a modest increase year-on-year. The National Energy Board, the independent energy regulator in Canada, said 2.7 million bpd were exported in February, up 20,000 bpd year from the same time last year.

For the first two months of 2014, Canadian oil exports were 1.5 percent higher than the same period in 2013.

Nearly all of Canadian oil exports head to the United States. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has tried to add a layer of diversity to the export economy by courting Asian consumers.

Last month, NEB said U.S. oil imports from Canada have increased from 16 percent of total U.S. imports in 2005 to 32 per cent in 2013.

NEB's latest set of data, published Tuesday, didn't include export destinations.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said crude oil output is expected to reach 3.9 million barrels per day in 2015, a 500,000 bpd per day increase from previous levels.

[NEB]