CALGARY, Alberta, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Canada sent an average of more than 2.5 million barrels of oil per day to the United States in 2013, up 10 percent from the previous year, government data show.
The National Energy Board published crude oil export figures for 2013 that showed nearly 70 percent of the oil went to the Petroleum Administration for Defense District II, the U.S. Midwest.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he wants to add a layer of diversity to an export market that relies almost exclusively on the United States as its oil export designation.
The NEB said about 82,880 bpd were sent to markets other than the United States last year, more than twice sent to non-U.S. markets.
The board didn't provide a breakdown of export destinations outside the United States.
The Harper administration has expressed support for TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline, which would send oil to PADD III markets in southern states if approved by the U.S. government.
