Producer
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNRL)
One of Canada's largest oil and gas producers; major oil sands operator (Horizon Oil Sands upgrader, Athabasca Oil Sands Project). Produces elemental sulfur as mandatory byproduct of bitumen upgrading. CNRL's Horizon upgrader processes high-sulfur bitumen; sulfur is formed into blocks/prills and stockpiled or shipped. Canada's oil sands produce ~3M MT/year marketable sulfur; CNRL, Suncor, and Cenovus are the primary contributors. CNRL also operator of largest oil sands project (Jackfish thermal in-situ SAGD operations).
4
Inputs supplied
4
Goods downstream
1
Facilities
0
Stories
What they make
4 inputs Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNRL) supplies
Click an input to see every good that depends on it, every country that produces it, and every other company in the supply chain.
energy
Natural Gas (Pipeline-Grade, >95% Methane) →
mineral
Elemental Sulfur (H2SO4 Feedstock) →
mineral
Elemental Sulfur (from Oil/Gas Processing) →
energy
Petroleum Coke (Fuel Grade) →
Where it shows up
Goods downstream
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What else they do
Business segments
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Oil Sands Mining & Upgrading (Horizon)
35%Thermal In Situ (SAGD — Primrose, Wolf Lake, Kirby, Jackfish)
20%Heavy Crude Oil (Conventional)
North American Light Crude Oil & NGLs
North American Natural Gas
15%International E&P
Intelligence
What's known
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Did you know2025
Canadian Natural Resources is universally known as an oil sands company — but it is simultaneously one of Canada's top-3 natural gas producers, averaging 2.1 Bcf/day in 2024, equivalent to approximately 12% of Canada's entire national gas output. This gas is not associated gas from oil sands: it is a separate major production position from the Montney and Deep Basin plays in Western Canada, placing CNRL alongside Tourmaline and Ovintiv as the dominant Canadian gas producers. At the same time, CNRL consumes roughly 0.3 Bcf/day of gas internally to generate steam for its SAGD thermal bitumen operations — making it simultaneously one of Canada's largest gas suppliers and one of its largest industrial gas consumers.
Canadian Natural Resources Limited ↗Capacity2025
CNRL's Horizon upgrader produces 35.5° API Synthetic Crude Oil (CNS Light Sweet Synthetic) with only 0.1% sulfur — a premium product that requires no diluent for pipeline transport and arrives at refineries partially pre-processed. This is fundamentally different from raw bitumen or diluted bitumen (dilbit): it is a fully pipelineable, nearly sulfur-free crude that commands a quality premium. In Q4 2024, Horizon produced a record 534,631 bbl/day of SCO. The Horizon and (post-2025 Chevron acquisition) AOSP upgraders together give CNRL the world's largest private-sector synthetic crude manufacturing capacity.
Canadian Natural Resources Limited ↗Origin2025
Canadian Natural Resources was founded in Calgary in 1989 and grew through a series of acquisitions to become Canada's largest oil and gas producer by market capitalization. Key milestones: acquired Horizon Oil Sands upgrader assets from Gulf Canada (2001), completed Phase 1 of Horizon in 2009, acquired Shell's Canadian oil sands assets (2017, including Albian Sands and AOSP share), and closed the acquisition of Chevron's 20% Athabasca Oil Sands Project stake in early 2025. In Q4 2024, CNRL became the first Canadian oil producer to sustain liquids production above 1 million barrels per day.
Canadian Natural Resources Limited ↗