A Boon to the Economy

Jane Van Ryan
Posted October 16, 2009

Be grateful that energy-rich Canada is our friendly neighbor to the North. A new study released today shows that the development of Canada's oil sands will lead to the creation of more than 340,000 new U.S. jobs between 2011 and 2025. With our national unemployment rate at 9.8 percent, this is very welcoming news.

The study, "Canada's Oil Sands and Economic Impact on the USA," says greater production of Canada's oil sands is expected to stimulate economic activity in both countries. As oil sands production and investment rises, the demand for U.S. goods and services also increases, adding an estimated $34 billion to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2015 and $42.2 billion in 2025.

Furthermore, as the study explains, "The benefits of oil sands development do not fall to only one industry or any one region in the U.S. but are broadly shared across many industrial sectors and regions...It is this increase in demand for goods and services in both countries, and the increased trade resulting there from, that broadly increases the level of economic activity to the United States."

The study, which was commissioned by API and conducted by the non-profit Canadian Energy Research Institute (CERI), is based on oil sands output rising from about 1.4 million barrels a day to around 4 million barrels a day in 2025. Canada is the largest supplier of imported oil and natural gas to the United States. Huge sums are being invested to build new pipelines and expand refineries to transport and process Canadian oil.