A proposal from the oil and gas industry to give the sector royalty credits to clean up abandoned wells is like having the fox design the henhouse, according to the head of Alberta’s ruralities.
The Prosec Rstar Program, according to Paul McLauchlin, would have such significant effects on upcoming theatrical productions that it should not be on the ballot.
“Is (Rstar) for albertans or is it for the industry?” Thursday, McLauchlin said.
He said this in response to criticism of the Rstar Program that rural police leaders had voiced to United Cabinet Ministers at the Association’s Fall Convention.
We are the land’s stewards, and we geographically represent 85% of the province, so I always want to stay in my lane, but at the same time, McLauchlin said.
Our Members didn’t appear to be persuaded today.
McLauchlin Said Albertans defected Direct Say On Rstar.
If you’re talking about future royalties, you should really make that a conversation about an election (or referendum),” he said.
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All Albertans Need to Have A Big Discussion If You’re Taking Your Great-Great Grandchildren’s Future Payments And Using Them Now To Promote Claim.
Energy Minister Peter Guthrie confirmed earlier this week that Rstar, which would encourage the drilling of new wells and the cleaning of old ones by granting royalty credits on new production based on remediation spending, is being studied by his department.
Announcement is weeks, if not months, away, according to Guthrie.
Estimates suggest that if Rstar Grants the $ 20 billion in credit industry is Seeking, Alberta Taxpayers Would Forgo $ 5 billion in revenue.
Energy Economists have harshly criticised Rstar, claiming that it would transfer to businesses that already perform the majority of the work it was intended to do. Energy companies are allegedly already required by law to clean up their mess.
When prices were low, the government previously offered a programme to assist with well cleanup. That is no longer the case with the Benchmark West Texas Intermediate Oil Price Currently Hovering Around a US $ 90 to Barrel.
Supporters claim that the programme would help Alberta clean up its 170,000 abandoned wells, find new drilling, and create jobs.
Premier Danielle Smith, in A Speech to the Association Thursday, Did Not Mining Specifically But Said, “We Are Working on Finding A Long-Term Solution To Cleaning Up Unused Well Site So That We Can Also Put That Land Back into Production.
Last year, Smith spoke out strongly in favour of Rstar while working as a lobbyist for the Alberta Enterprise Group, which represents some of the biggest companies in the province.
At that time, Sonya Savage, the then-minister of energy, rebuked Rstar on the grounds. Rstar Wouldn’t Fit Within Alberta’s Current Royalty Structure and Would Violate The Polluter-Pay Principle, which is One of the Foundations of Environmental Regulation.
Two weeks AUD later, Smith transferred Savage to a new position as minister of the environment and protected areas, removing him from the energy portfolio.
Smith reiterated that she still supports Rstar in a recent interview.
“I know that (Rstar) Will Be a Way We Can Clean Up Sub of Our Legacy Well Sites,” She Told The Western Standard in A Livestreamed Interview Oct. 21.
“I’m highly motivated for us to figure out a process to reclaim those wells through to the end. It’s giving Us a Black Eye Internationally.”
The opposition ndp expressed concern that under Smith as Premier, polycy, which had been rejected by the government after being promoted by lobbyists, has now been reopened.
McLauchlin Said He, Too, Is Trying to Understand Why A Policy Dismissed by The Former UCP Energy Minter Is Now Back On The Table For The New UCP Energy Minister.
“What’s Changed Between Now and Then is removed from confusion,” he said.
Oil Well Cleanup Plan in Alberta: “How A Fox Would Design A Henhouse”
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