Oil and Gas

On this page:

• Production
• Trade and Transportation

Production

Crude Oil

• Nunavut does not have any commercial crude oil production.
• Between 1985 and 1996, 3.0 million barrels of crude oil were produced at the Bent Horn field on Cameron Island. The light crude oil produced at Bent Horn was used to power generators at Resolute Bay and the Polaris Zinc Mine.
• In December 2016, the federal government announced that Canadian Arctic offshore, including the federal waters offshore of Nunavut, is indefinitely off limits to new offshore oil and gas licensing, to be reviewed every five years through a climate and marine science-based life-cycle assessment.
• In 2019, the federal government issued an order, expiring at the end of 2021, prohibiting all oil and gas activities in the Canadian Arctic offshore, including activities associated with existing licenses.^Footnote 5 This order was most recently amended on 8 December 2023 to extend the expiry date to 31 December 2028.^Footnote 6
• In 2023, the “Report of the Committee on the Science-based Assessment of Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration and Development in the Eastern and Central Arctic” was issued. This report assesses the potential impact from Arctic offshore oil and gas exploration and development, including a detailed analysis of hydrocarbon potential in Nunavut.
• The Nunavut Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement was signed 18 January 2024. The agreement officially begins the transfer of responsibilities for Nunavut’s public lands, natural resources, and rights in respect of water from the Government of Canada to the Government of Nunavut. This process is expected to take three years, with control being transferred on 1 April 2027 (the Transfer Date). The CER will remain as the regulator for oil and gas activities for at least five years after the Transfer Date. Following that, the CER’s jurisdiction will be renewed for further five-year periods unless the Government of Nunavut establishes a different regulator for petroleum resources.
• Nunavut’s crude oil resources are estimated at 18.3 billion barrels.^Footnote 7

Refined Petroleum Products (RPPs)

• There are no refineries in Nunavut.

Natural Gas/Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs)

• There is currently no natural gas or NGL production in Nunavut.
• Nunavut’s natural gas resources are estimated to be 181.4 trillion cubic feet.^Footnote 8

Top of Page

Trade and Transportation

Crude Oil and Liquids

• There are no crude oil pipelines or crude-by-rail facilities in Nunavut.
• RPPs, including gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, are typically received from the East Coast of Canada, the United States, or in some cases, overseas countries such as Finland or Japan; however, source location may vary from year to year based on product availability.^Footnote 9 RPPs are transported to Nunavut from the East Coast of Canada by small marine vessels. RPPs are distributed throughout the territory in the summer when the roads and waterways are accessible.
• Nunavut’s harsh climate, sparse population, small community sizes, and large distance from refining centres results in costly fuel delivery. The territorial government’s Petroleum Products Division is responsible for the purchase, import, storage, and delivery of fuels using private companies or subcontractors.

Natural Gas

• There are no natural gas pipelines in Nunavut.

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)

• There are no current or proposed large-scale LNG facilities in Nunavut.

Top of Page

Energy Use

Total Energy Consumption

• End-use demand in Nunavut was 3.9 petajoules (PJ) in 2020. The largest sector for energy demand was transportation at 47% of total demand, followed by industrial at 35%, commercial at 12%, and residential at 7% (Figure 3). Nunavut’s total energy demand was the smallest in Canada, and smallest on a per capita basis.
• RPPs were the largest fuel-type consumed in Nunavut in 2020, accounting for 3.0 PJ, or 78% of total end-use demand. Electricity accounted for the remaining 0.9 PJ (22%) (Figure 4).

Refined Petroleum Products (RPPs)

• Nunavut is the smallest market in Canada for RPPs. Total 2022 demand for RPPs was less than 0.1% of total Canadian RPP demand.
• Nunavut’s motor gasoline demand in 2022 was 565 litres per capita, 45% below the national average of 1,035 litres per capita.
• Nunavut’s diesel demand in 2022 was 1,056 litres per capita, 37% above the national average of 772 litres per capita.
• A significant portion of Nunavut’s demand for diesel fuel is for power generation. Virtually all of Nunavut’s installed electricity generation capacity is diesel-fueled.
• Gasoline and diesel (for vehicle use and space heating) prices are set by the territorial government on an annual basis. Prices differ across regions based on factors such as the supply and delivery cost.^Footnote 10

Natural Gas

• No natural gas is used in Nunavut.

Electricity

• In 2020, annual electricity consumption per capita in Nunavut was 6.03 megawatt-hours (MWh). Nunavut ranked the lowest in Canada for per capita electricity consumption and consumed 58% less than the national average.
• Nunavut’s largest sectors for electricity consumption in 2020 were commercial at 0.11 TWh, residential at 0.07 TWh, and industrial at 0.06 TWh.
• Nunavut has one of the highest prices for electricity in Canada. Nunavut’s low population density and dispersed communities lacking access to the North American bulk electricity or natural gas grids result in the need to import high-cost diesel to generate electricity. Residential electricity rates are generally subsidized, up to a monthly usage threshold, to equalize rates across the territory.

GHG Emissions

• Nunavut’s GHG emissions in 2022 were 0.62 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MT CO₂e).^Footnote 11 Nunavut’s GHG emissions have increased 5% since 2005.
• Nunavut’s emissions per capita are 15.2 tonnes CO₂e. That is 16% below the Canadian average of 18.2 tonnes per capita.
• The largest emitting sector in Nunavut is transportation at 54% of emissions (Figure 5).
• In 2022, Nunavut’s power sector emitted 0.15 MT CO₂e emissions, which represents about 0.3% of Canadian emissions from power generation.
• The greenhouse gas intensity of electricity generation in Nunavut, measured as the GHGs emitted in the generation of electricity in the territory, was 780 grams of CO₂e per kilowatt-hour (g CO₂e/kWh) electricity generated in 2022. The national average in 2022 was 100 g CO₂e/kWh (Figure 6).