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Can Stelmach make amends?
CALGARY -- Oil executive Barry Olson is unapologetically harsh when he describes the mess Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach has made with the province`s royalty regime. There is distrust, he says bluntly, in Calgary and on Bay Street and Wall Street over the government`s handling of the royalty structure, which has been amended five times since it underwent a major overhaul in late 2007.
"I`m putting it politely when I say [the relationship between the government and the energy industry] is strained," said Mr. Olson, chief executive of Orleans Energy Ltd., a Calgary-based junior.
"The [energy] industry and the investment community feel there`s a substantial lack of credibility with regards to past measures that have been put in place that are short-term in nature and don`t really address a long-term] solution for Alberta to remain competitive."
Mr. Stelmach may soon have a chance to redeem himself.
Within weeks, the competitive review the Conservative Premier instructed his energy department to conduct will be in his hands. The review was announced this past summer when it became clear the downturn in the economy, coupled with prolific sources of unconventional natural gas, such as shale gas fields, substantially changed the energy industry.
The review may prompt the government to rewrite Alberta`s royalty deal, with the hope that oil and gas companies that left the province to take advantage of British Columbia and Saskatchewan`s more attractive royalty rates will return.
Read the full article here.
CALGARY -- Oil executive Barry Olson is unapologetically harsh when he describes the mess Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach has made with the province`s royalty regime. There is distrust, he says bluntly, in Calgary and on Bay Street and Wall Street over the government`s handling of the royalty structure, which has been amended five times since it underwent a major overhaul in late 2007.
"I`m putting it politely when I say [the relationship between the government and the energy industry] is strained," said Mr. Olson, chief executive of Orleans Energy Ltd., a Calgary-based junior.
"The [energy] industry and the investment community feel there`s a substantial lack of credibility with regards to past measures that have been put in place that are short-term in nature and don`t really address a long-term] solution for Alberta to remain competitive."
Mr. Stelmach may soon have a chance to redeem himself.
Within weeks, the competitive review the Conservative Premier instructed his energy department to conduct will be in his hands. The review was announced this past summer when it became clear the downturn in the economy, coupled with prolific sources of unconventional natural gas, such as shale gas fields, substantially changed the energy industry.
The review may prompt the government to rewrite Alberta`s royalty deal, with the hope that oil and gas companies that left the province to take advantage of British Columbia and Saskatchewan`s more attractive royalty rates will return.
Read the full article here.