CALGARY — Alberta’s crude oil production in 2011 rose seven per cent from 2010 levels, the first rise in production since 1995, the Energy Resources Conservation Board said Wednesday.

Alberta’s crude oil production was 77,900 cubic metres, or 490,000 barrels of oil per day, with a total of 28.4 million cubic metres or 179 million barrels in 2011, the board said in a release.

The increase is due to the higher production rates of horizontal wells, the board said.

In 2011, Alberta had an eight per cent increase over its 2010 oil sands production.

The province produced 277,000 cubic metres, or 1.7 million barrels a day, of raw crude bitumen from the oilsands for a yearly total of 101 million cubic metres, or 637 million barrels.

The board is forecasting that Alberta’s annual raw crude bitumen production will total 587.3 thousand cubic metres, or 3.7 million barrels per day, for a total of 214 million cubic metres, or 1.35 billion barrels per year by 2021.

The Energy Resources Conservation Board is Alberta’s primary energy regulator.