Canadian Natural Resources Limited, or CNRL or Canadian Natural is a senior Canadian oil and natural gas company that operates primarily in the Western Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, with offshore operations in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

sector of the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

, and offshore

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...

and

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

. The company, which is headquartered in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

, has the largest undeveloped base in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. It is the largest independent producer of

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

in Western Canada and the largest producer of heavy crude oil in Canada. In the 2020

Forbes Global 2000 The ''Forbes'' Global 2000 is an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world, published by: sales, profit, assets and market value. The list has been published annually since 2003. By country Forbes Global 2000 as of 2023: ...

, Canadian Natural Resources was ranked as the 306th-largest public company in the world.

Overview

CBC described CNRL as a "Calgary-based oil and gas giant." CNRL owns and operates Horizon Oil Sands and the Athabasca Oil Sands Project (AOSP) which are about 70 km north of Fort McMurray, Alberta in the Athabasca region. According to a May 13, 2021, Forbes report, CNRL had a market capitalization of $36.6 billion, and sales of $12.6 billion with 9,709 employees.

Operations

As of December 31, 2018, the company had proved reserves of , of which 63% were synthetic crude. The company also owns two operated pipeline systems, an electricity

cogeneration Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elec ...

facility, and a 50% interest in the North West Redwater Partnership. In 2018, the company averaged production of per day, of which 76% was

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

and

natural gas liquids Natural-gas condensate, also called natural gas liquids, is a low-density mixture of hydrocarbon liquids that are present as gaseous components in the raw natural gas produced from many natural gas fields. Some gas species within the raw natura ...

and 24% was

. In 2018, production came as follows: * Synthetic crude from oil sands mining in

Northern Alberta Northern Alberta is a geographic region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. An informally defined cultural region, the boundaries of Northern Alberta are not fixed. Under some schemes, the region encompasses everything north of the ce ...

39% of production. * Natural gas, primarily produced in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

24% of production * Light and medium crude oil and natural gas liquids 13% of production *

Bitumen Bitumen ( , ) is an immensely viscosity, viscous constituent of petroleum. Depending on its exact composition, it can be a sticky, black liquid or an apparently solid mass that behaves as a liquid over very large time scales. In American Engl ...

10% of production * Primary heavy crude oil 8% of production * Pelican Lake heavy crude oil 6% of production The company's largest operation is the Horizon Oil Sands project which is north of

Fort McMurray Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It is located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. It has played a significa ...

, Alberta. It includes a surface oil sands mining and bitumen extraction plant and bitumen upgrading with associated infrastructure. The company sanctioned the Horizon Oil Sands Project in February 2005 and it began production in early 2009.

History

The company was founded on November 7, 1973, as AEX Minerals Corporation and adopted the present name in 1975. In 1998, the company sold land to Remington Energy for C$127.5 million. In 1999, the company and Penn West Petroleum (now Obsidian Energy) acquired the Canadian assets of BP Amoco. In 2000, the company acquired Ranger Oil for C$1.08 billion. In 2002, the company acquired Rio Alto for $2.4 billion. In February 2004, the company acquired Petrovera Resources, a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between Encana and ConocoPhillips. In September 2006, the company acquired the Canadian operations of Anadarko Petroleum for US$4.1 billion. In April 2014, the company acquired the conventional assets in Canada of Devon Energy for C$3.125 billion. In 2017, the company acquired the Canadian

oil sands Oil sands are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. They are either loose sands, or partially consolidated sandstone containing a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, and water, soaked with bitumen (a dense and extremely viscous ...

assets of

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...

, including a 70% working interest in the Athabasca Oil Sands Project, for $5.3 billion in cash plus 97,560,975 shares. The shares were sold in 2018. In August 2018, the company acquired the idled Joslyn oil sands project from Total S.A. and its partners. In September 2018, the company acquired Laricina Energy for $46 million. In June 2019, the company acquired the remaining assets in Canada of Devon Energy.

Incidents

Horizon tank farm collapse fatalities

In 2007, a tank that was under construction collapsed, killing two workers and seriously injuring two others.

Primrose oil seeps

In June 2013, the

Alberta Energy Regulator The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) is a quasi-judicial, independent agency regulating the development of energy resources in Alberta. Headquartered in Calgary, the AER's mandate under the ''Responsible Energy Development Act'' (REDA) is "to ...

investigated reports of leaks in the company's Primrose East oil sands project. The regulator concluded that nearly a million litres of bitumen mixed with water had seeped into the ground around the site.

Slave Lake pipeline spill

In April 2014, a pipeline owned by the company spilled 70,000 liters of oil and processed water northwest of Slave Lake,

Red Earth Creek pipeline spill

In November 2014, a pipeline owned by the company spilled almost 60,000 liters of crude oil into a

muskeg Muskeg (; ; , lit. ''moss bog'') is a peat-forming ecosystem found in several northern climates, most commonly in Arctic and boreal ecosystem, boreal areas. Muskeg is approximately synonymous with bogland, bog or peatland, and is a standard te ...

region 27 kilometers from Red Earth Creek, Alberta.

Leadership

President

# Dr Aaro Emil Aho, 1973–1975 # Herbert Stanley Cornwell, 1975–1976 # Robert Allen Boulware, 1976–1985 # John Graham Langille, 1985–2005 # Stephen Wilson Laut, 2005–2018 # Timothy Shawn McKay, 2018–2024 # Scott Gerald Stauth, 2024–

Chairman of the Board

# Allan Paul Markin, 1989–2012 # Norman Murray Edwards, 2012–

References

External links

* {{authority control Oil companies of Canada Natural gas companies of Canada Companies based in Calgary Energy companies established in 1973 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1973 Natural resources organizations Companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange S&P/TSX 60