RE:Following on from TeeVeePDMitchel,
I see you too know next to nothing about the energy sector. It is ok to pay 80% royalties in the middle east, north Africa or north sea when wells put out 80,000 to 100,000 b/d. in Alberta, average productivity for flush production in the first 30 days is 400-700 b/d and declinging from there. At a cost of $4-7.5 million to drill, frac, and test a well, and more to complete and tie in production, it actually takes incentives like a royalty reduction on the first 50,000 barrels to allow the Alberta energy sector to make an average of 1.5-2.5 times their money back over 3-5 years on a well.
Stelmach's advisors recommended moving royalties from 25-50% and Stelmach moved them from 25-35%. The industry tried to explain that increasing royalties by 10% meant that the best industry could do if they batted 100% is just get their money back. Needless to say, when $25 billion was cut in direct expenditures and land sale income to the province, another $25 billion was lost in follow on economic activity, Stelmach had to reverse the royalty increase to stem the bleeding.
Royalties front load the cost structure and are nothing less than expropriation. Notley and her merry crew of ideologues will cause more unemployement, the bankruptcy of small business than Alberta has ever seen. Places like Grand Prairie, Edson, Whitecourt, Drayton Valley etc will become ghost towns as motels, hotels, restaurants, tire shops, welding shops etc all go belly up.
It seems clear to me that you have swallowed left wing bs and propaganda about oil and gas in Alberta, or are a left wing ideologue. Notley is screwed because the energy sector has already moved future exploration and development expenditures out of the province. The only onces she can go after are the oil sands who can't move. To find the money she will need to fund her "vision of poverty" for alberta will mean increasing royalties on existing production as well as new production, higher taxes on Albertans and unprecidented deficits. Alberta now has about $17 billion in debt. I say now that Rachel Notley and her band of Federal ND party commanders from Ottawa and Toronto will at least double that deficit in less than 4 years. Welcome to Albertastan.