The China National Offshore Oil Corporation Ltd. (CNOOC) is one of the largest oil and gas corporations in the world. CNOOC’s Canadian operations, formerly known as Nexen Inc, include assets in oil sands, fracked gas and offshore oil drilling throughout the country. The following case study emphasizes CNOOC’s Canadian operations only.

Crescent Point Energy Corporation is an oil and gas exploration and development company based in Calgary, Alberta. The firm was established in 2001, and following numerous mergers and acquisitions, it has grown into one of the largest light and medium crude oil producers in Canada today. It is Saskatchewan’s largest oil producer and has been “by far the most active driller in the country for the past several years.”¹ Crescent Point also exploits natural gas liquids and natural gas, totalling roughly 30 per cent of its 2017 production levels.²

Cenovus Energy is the third-largest oil sands company in Canada by known reserves,³ holding major assets in conventional and unconventional oil in Alberta, as well as natural gas in Alberta and British Columbia (BC).

Encana Corporation is a natural gas, oil and natural gas liquids producer operating in Canada and the United States.

Husky Energy is one of Canada’s largest integrated energy companies, with domestic operations focused on thermal bitumen (heavy oil) production in Western Canada and offshore oil extraction in Atlantic Canada. It operates internationally in the Asia Pacific region, producing offshore natural gas in Indonesia and China. Husky also owns a number of retail gas operations in Canada, extending from British Columbia (BC) to Ontario.

Imperial Oil is Canada’s second-largest integrated oil company. It is Canada’s largest petroleum refiner⁴ and one of its largest natural gas producers, with total assets valued at over C$41 billion in 2017.⁵

The first corporation to develop Canada’s oil sands in the 1960s, Suncor Energy continues to hold a dominant position as Canada’s largest energy company, and the world’s largest bitumen producer. Based in Calgary, Alberta, Suncor has operations that span the oil and gas commodity chain, specializing in conventional and in situ oil sands production in the Athabasca region.