Canada’s oilsands sector emerged with an increased global market share during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Alberta Department of Finance.

The northern bitumen belt stood out by standing firm while other supplies shrank, data compiled from the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) showed.

Oilsands mines and underground extraction plants maintained production of 3 million b/d while the virus raged in 2020 – the same volume as in 2019, before the pandemic.

The Alberta output was 3.3% of a 2020 global market that suffered an 8.7% contraction to 91 million b/d. The year before, oilsands production satisfied 3.1% of world demand for 99.7 million b/d.

The pandemic performance continued a well established trend, according to the...