"It is necessary to hit oil interests in all regions which serve the United States, not just in the Middle East. The goal is to cut its supplies or reduce them," it said.

The group was behind a failed February 2006 attack on the Abqaiq oil facility in Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil processing plant.

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A Canadian minister said the al-Qaeda group's message was being regarded with importance. 

Canada is the biggest exporter of crude oil to the United States, followed by Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.

In Mexico, Maximiliano Cortazar, a presidential spokesman, said that the government was trying to confirm the veracity of the threat.

The al-Qaeda group also vowed new attacks in Saudi Arabia.

"For some time now, we have been preparing some quality attacks which will shake the foundations of the crusaders [Westerners] in the Arabian Peninsula," said the magazine, after a nearly two-year absence following a Saudi clampdown.

Al Qaeda leaders have repeatedly called for attacks on oil installations to block supplies to the West, for what they see as a US-led war against Islam.