What would fill approximately 96,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools? Alberta’s oil production last year.

The numbers from the Alberta Energy Regulator are in for the final month of last year and show that 2025 set a new record for oil production in the province at 4.1 million barrels per day (bbl/d) for total output of over 1.5 billion barrels, 84% of which was from the oil sands.

Average daily production in the province was up by 166,000 bbl/d or 4.2% compared to 2024.  

A key enabler of the rise in production is the extra egress capacity provided by the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion (TMX) that was completed in 2024. The pipeline, which has a nameplate capacity of 890,000 bbl/d (up from 300,000 before the expansion project), has also enabled more oil exports from Alberta to Asia.

As the chart below shows, the value of Alberta’s oil exports to Asia went from zero before the expanded pipeline began operations to over $1.1 billion as of October of last year.

Enhancements to the existing pipeline system and filling TMX to capacity will facilitate additional production in 2026. We expect real oil and gas exports to grow at around 2% both this year and in 2027. At some point, though, without a new pipeline in place, a lack of pipeline capacity will once again act as a constraint on output growth, possibly as soon as 2028.

While the rise in production provides a boost to economic growth in Alberta via ongoing extraction activity and increased exports, we expect oil and gas capital spending to remain flat this year. Absent final decisions on a new pipeline, the focus will remain on incremental production growth, efficiency, shareholder returns and debt repayment rather than greenfield expansion and new mega-projects.

Answer to the previous trivia question: The 2026 Winter Olympics will be the first Olympic Games to be officially co-hosted by two cities: Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Today’s trivia question: Luge, skeleton, and bobsleigh are the three “sliding” sports at the Winter Olympics. Which is the fastest of the three in terms of top speeds reached?