Canada is Preferred Oil Producer: Global Poll

Oh, Canada: countless stereotypes of poutine eaters, French-speaking maple farmers, and unnatural friendliness. Now, new data suggests Canada is gaining global recognition for something else: energy.

What happened: Ipsos, one of the world’s largest market research firms, recently completed a global survey detailing preferences of oil importing countries.

• The findings are part of a larger study run by Ipsos, Context Energy, which polled over 24,000 respondents across 28 countries on their views on energy.

The study: Respondents ranked a set list of countries, excluding their home country, in terms of where they would prefer to import oil and natural gas from most to least desirable. You might expect the top preference was given to geographical neighbours, but after that point, the results got more interesting.

Preferred global oil supplier
percent time each country was ranked in the top 3

Of eight petroleum producing regions across the world, Canada was ranked in the top three choices of all global respondents more than any other country.

• According to Ipsos, “Canada is the preferred supplier for countries that import oil”.

But why? Canada has the third largest oil reserves of any country and consistently ranks among the highest across all ESG metrics, according to third-party assessments by the likes of Yale, Columbia University, and the World Bank.

This means not only does Canada have a lot of oil but that it is also a global leader in responsible production.

Zoom out: Events like the war in Ukraine have led to increased geopolitical instability and highlighted society’s sensitivity to energy insecurity. The study shows the growing importance being placed on reliable responsibly produced oil to meet our current energy needs with a recognition that Canada can provide it.