Canada ponders dependency on oil exports to United States CALGARY, Alberta, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- A report from Scotiabank said Canada is too dependent on the United States for oil exports, though industry leaders expect little change. Pat Mohr, a commodities expert at Scotiabank, writes that the Canadian oil export market needs to expand beyond the United States. "Changing oil market dynamics highlight the increasing commercial risk for Western Canada's oilpatch of relying largely on one major export market -- the United States -- and the critical need to build additional pipeline and rail capacity to the British Columbia coast," she was quoted by the Calgary Herald as saying. Oil production from tar sands projects in Alberta province are expected to reach 1.7 million barrels per day for this year and eventually increase to 2.6 million bpd, the newspaper reports. In August, Scotiabank said oil producers in western Canada lost about $5 billion in the first half of the year because of the lack of export diversity. The Canadian government has stood behind pipeline projects from Alberta province that would secure access to Asian markets. Greg Stringham, a market specialist at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said the southern U.S. coast remains the dominant export market for now. "We see the light oil going east, the heavy oil going south and to the West Coast, we clearly need access into that market, whether it be to California or to Asia, and that can be a variety of light or heavy oils," he was quoted as saying.