SEARCH NEWS
POLL: Opinions divided over royalty issue
        (AlbertaIndex, November 1, Thursday) --- Public opinion expressed through AlbertaIndex’s recent poll is divided over the province’s new oil royalty regime due to kick off in January 2009.

Despite industry warnings of reduced investments and job cuts, Premier Ed Stelmach said he will stick with his government’s plan to claw back around $1.4 billion in royalties from oil and gas companies.

Encana was one of the first companies to warn it would slash investments in Alberta by $1 billion if oil royalties were raised.

In our poll, just under half or 35 votes, said the province should heed Encana’s warning and not risk losing a winning formula.

Another 33 votes said Encana is playing poker, and has nowhere to go as Alberta’s terms for oil and gas companies are the among the world’s best.

Only 3 agreed with the radical step of bringing in new investors from the US, Abu Dhabi and China to develop the oil sands if the current crop of players are unhappy with the new terms.

The poll ran from October 1 to 25 as emotions ran high as the pendulum swung back and forth between those who supported and opposed the new royalty terms.

The battle for public opinion continues with no clear cut signs as to who might eventually win or lose from the new royalty regime.



Did you enjoy this article? Please share it!
Reddit!Del.icio.us!Google!Netscape!StumbleUpon!Newsvine!Furl!Yahoo!