The Campbell government has announced a 120 million dollar top-up to the province’s royalty credit program, to encourage year-round development in the oil and gas sector.
The Liberals are calling it an incentive, but the NDP opposition takes a much different view.
While admitting the energy industry here in the Northeast is a main driver of provincial economic growth, New Democrat Energy critic John Horgan calls the government royalty adjustment, a flatout subsidy to big oil and gas companies…
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However, Energy Minister Blair Lekstrom counters, every dollar invested in the royalty credit program generates a return of two dollars and fifty cents…
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Mr. Lekstrom also argues BC is in a world-wide competition for oil and gas industry business…and that noted, yesterday’s announcement came just one day prior to the unveiling today of a new plan in Alberta.
It is expected to widely alter highly critcized royalty changes, which only became law at the beginning of last year.
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